In a Pokémon World
by Whisperwill
Summary: A Pokémon Adventures story, set during Volume 2. When all humans suddenly undergo a bizarre transformation, the Pokémon world is thrown into chaos. Now it's up to Red and Blue, the two most brilliant Pokémon Trainers who have ever lived, to right the wrong that has been thrust upon their world. Posted by Wonderstorm.
1. Whole New World We Live In

**Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful comic** **Pokémon Adventures, by Hidenori Kusaka, or anything related to the franchise of my childhood,** **Pokémon. Not making any money with this story either.  
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 **A/N: Original completion date: 1/2/13. Written as a late Christmas present for my two sisters. I used the** **Pokémon Adventures world for this story instead of the** **Pokémon anim** ** **é world, since**** **Pokémon Adventures allows me to be more dramatic than the TV show. I always appreciate reviews!**

 **I took the title of this story, as well as all chapter titles, from** ** **Pokémon songs. The title is from the second season theme song "**** ** ** **Pokémon World." ("We all live in a****** ** ** ** **Pokémon world. I wanna be the greatest Master of them all.")** The chapter title is from the third season theme song "****** ** ** ** **Pokémon Johto." (It's a whole new world we live in...)  
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 ** ** ** **Rated T for one reference to female dogs as "bitches," blood, intimidation, torture, and violence.********

 **In a Pokémon World**

 _Once, a cruel man used a terrible power to change our world_. _He made everything the way he wanted it to be, and he ruled over everyone without exception_. _No one was brave enough to stand up to him—none except Vermillion and Cerulean_. _The two of them fought against the man courageously_. _They righted the wrong and returned everything to the way it should be_.

—summary of a children's fairy tale, especially well-known in the Orange Islands

 **Chapter One**

Whole New World We Live In

Red of Pallet Town strolled down Route 1, his three prized Pokémon—Bulbasaur, Pikachu, and Poliwrath—at his heels. He was on the road to Viridian City, on his way to the Pokémon Gym there, but he wasn't doing anything particular at the moment. His arms were propped behind his head as he daydreamed about the Pokémon League. Fame, glory, triumph—yeah, and Red standing in the winner's circle. Once he had earned his eight gym badges, he would defeat his rival Blue for the title of the region's greatest Pokémon Trainer.

His Pokémon were scampering along behind him, enjoying the sunshine, when they all came to a collective halt. Red heard their footsteps stop all of a sudden and turned around to see what was the matter. Pikachu's ears were perked up, and Bulbasaur and Poliwrath were looking up at the sky as though they could see something Red couldn't.

"Hey, guys, what's wrong?" Red asked them. He stared at the clouds, on alert. Pokémon could often sense impending events long before humans could—sometimes they picked up on things that were impossible for humans to see. Red waited uneasily for something to happen.

Like a blast from the world's largest Pidgeot, a sudden, ferocious wind exploded out of the blue. Red and his Pokémon were thrown off their feet. Using his arms to shield his face, Red tried to break his fall, but he never hit the ground. The wind bore him high above the trees on an updraft. His vest and hat were ripped off with ease. Gritting his teeth in concentration, he reached out and, as his Pokémon came pelting up at him, grabbed them. First Pikachu in his left arm, then Bulbasaur in his right. The two filled his arms, and he realized he couldn't catch Poliwrath, too.

But Poliwrath didn't need catching. Red stared into his first Pokémon's eyes and knew what Poliwrath would do before he did it. Poliwrath opened his brawny arms wide and latched onto his Trainer with a bear hug, wrapping his arms around Pikachu and Bulbasaur. Poliwrath's strength held the four of them together as they tumbled helplessly on the wind. Red felt more sick than he ever had in his life, and he struggled not to throw up.

But his motion sickness was nothing compared to the new sensation that suddenly began to affect him. Heat and pain seared over every inch of his skin, making him feel as though his clothes were on fire. He let out a howling scream, and the three Pokémon, seeing his pain, cried out, too. Red heard them and shut his mouth, turning his latest scream into a long moan. Through blurred vision he stared hard at them, assessing their situation. The wind was still as strong as ever: they were at its mercy. And now light was shining around him. He could only guess that the glow was what was causing his pain. Was it contagious? Would it spread to his Pokémon, or was it only effective on humans? Red didn't know, and he refused to take the risk that his Pokémon would go through the pain, too. He gave his Pokémon friends a smile wrought with pain and determination. It was the last his Pokémon would see of him for a long time. He pulled Poké Balls from his belt and held them out. Pikachu and Bulbasaur vanished into them, and Red let the Balls go. They were whipped away in seconds. Poliwrath met his eyes, confused and hurt, not knowing why his Trainer was doing these things. "Poliwrath…" Red shut his eyes tightly and shoved his oldest friend hard in the stomach. The Water Pokémon's grip faltered, and he and Red were pulled apart by the wind and blown in different directions. "I'll find you all!" Red bellowed. "That's a _promise_!" The wind tore his shoes off; he hoped it wasn't about to tear his legs off. The last thing he remembered was the ground rushing up at him.

* * *

The air was perfectly still. It didn't even stir the hair on Red's head, even though his hat was long gone. To his enormous relief, the pain in his body had abated. He slid his eyes open and focused them. Uprooted trees and debris were lying around him. Apparently he was all alone in a ravaged forest. He pushed himself up, tried to stand, and fell over. His balance was off—his muscles must be stiff from all that battering. He panted heavily and tried again, only to topple onto his side. Why couldn't he get it right? Reaching up to scratch his head, he got the biggest shock of his life.

His hands weren't hands. They were paws. Growlithe paws—he recognized them right away. "Aaaah!" he tried to scream. Only it came out as, "Gro-oooooow!" Horror struck him so deeply that for a moment he couldn't breathe. He staggered, fell over for the third time, and rolled to his feet—all four of them. Running without a thought to where he was going, he sprinted through the trees, covering ground faster than he ever had before. He ran till he was panting for breath, and when he realized what a dunce he was being, he put on the brakes. He stumbled but managed to keep his footing—moving on all fours was hard to master. This was getting him nowhere. He had to stop and think. There had to be a way out of this.

People. He had to find a town, or a Pokémon Center—anywhere where there were people. Or a phone? He could call Professor Oak, or his mother. But would they listen to the barks of a Growlithe? Red couldn't think about that now. He had to _go_ , find someone to help him, figure out what had happened to him, and make it right. He circled uncertainly and decided to head north. That was where he had been headed before all this had happened.

He trotted on for hours without tiring. Growlithe were gifted with great endurance. When at last he saw a town in the distance, he ran for it with his tongue hanging out. He raced into town and looked around eagerly. The streets were milling with—

Pokémon. More Pokémon than he had ever seen in one place. They clopped and ambled and crawled and slithered and flew up and down the streets. Their grunts and cries filled the air. Where were their Trainers? Was it some sort of Pokémon parade?

Red reared up on wobbly hind legs and planted his paws in the window of a building marked, _FOOD_. His dog breath fogged the glass, but he didn't need to see much to know that there were no humans inside this place, either. More Pokémon. He tried a house nearby, and then a Mart. Pokémon—everywhere! And no humans to be found! What was _wrong_ with this place?

Red's tail waved in the air, but in a disquieted way. There was something afoot here. Pokémon were the only creatures to be seen, but human articles littered the town peculiarly. A tennis shoe here, a backpack there, seemed to imply that their owners had left them behind, or left in a hurry. Red's thoughts turned darker, and the fur on his neck bristled without his realizing it. Had the humans here been turned into Pokémon, too? Did that mean that Red wasn't just imagining that he was a Growlithe? Or was this another one of those awful dreams of his?

He wandered the streets with the rest of the Pokémon for hours more as the sun set, and long into the night. At last he curled up on a threshold no one was using and fell asleep, only because he was too tired to do anything but.

* * *

As soon as he got up the next morning, Red looked around hopefully. His hopes were dashed when he saw that there were still no human beings in sight. His stomach too tight for him to even be hungry, he ran to the Pokémon Center. Inside, there were no nurses on duty, only Chansey running around rather aimlessly. Red hurried past them to the machines in the corner. He had used them many times to see the number of his Pokémon, as well as their stats and health. The machine could transfer Pokémon, too. That was what he was counting on. He figured since he _was_ a Pokémon now, he could transfer _himself_. He pawed clumsily at the buttons, trying to program the site of transfer. It took him several attempts, but he managed to get the right destination in the end. Now all he needed was a Poké Ball. He nosed around on the floor until he found a dropped Ball that didn't looked missed. Picking it up in his mouth, he placed it onto the transfer grid. Slapping his paw on the "send" button, he whirled to touch his nose to the Poké Ball. He went inside it just as the machine hummed and sent the ball on its way.

The Poké Ball reappeared in a little Pokémon Center in Pallet Town. It quivered, and out burst Red. He stared around eagerly, but his tail drooped as he took in his surroundings. No nurses, no Trainers—no _humans_ —to be found. He growled a Growlithe growl and galloped out of the Center. There was no way this was for real! No way had it happened to _his_ Pallet Town, too!

But to all appearances, it had. The pastel hills of Pallet were full of Pokémon. But no Trainers called their names. No adults walked the sidewalks. No little boys and girls raced down the streets. Cars sat abandoned in the road, and the wind blew the odd piece of clothing or litter along in a lonely way. Red watched with a sinking heart as a knot of Rattata converged on a bowl of Poké Chow sitting on someone's front porch. Although the food was obviously not meant for them, the Rattata didn't seem to care as they scarfed it down and scurried off in search of more. In the café across the street, two Nidorino were fighting over a hot dog, and a Meowth lapped at a puddle of spilled soda.

Red gritted his canine teeth and ran up the street. Left on Hue Road, go two blocks, then up the side street until he could see the Oak Pokémon Lab. His house would be right next door, if it even still existed. Red didn't know what to trust in anymore.

He came to a stop on his front step, trembling. Did he dare to see what was inside? Could he bear it? Before he could dwell on it further, he leaned up against the door and fiddled with the knob until he could get it open. Then he went in.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could see. "Mom?" he called out. It ended up being a bark. No answer came. He crept up the hallway. As he continued to see nothing and no one, he began to trot faster. His barks became louder and more urgent. "Grow, Grow, Grow! _Grow_!"

There was no furniture out of place, no marks on the floor as though someone had been dragged away. The television hadn't been left on, and the kitchen was spick and span. It was as if his parents had simply left on a long vacation without telling him.

Them and every other human in town.

Or the world?

Red let out a vicious growl fraught with all the anger, confusion, and fear whirling inside him. He raced down the stairs and out of the house, knocking over a table and lamp on his way out. Now, at least, there _were_ some upturned pieces of furniture, like an alibi for anyone else who might come knocking. He ran all over town, searching for the one thing he couldn't find. Clumps of Caterpie, Exeggute, and Pidgey scattered out of his way, squawking indignantly, but he didn't care. Never before would Red of Pallet Town have turned a blind eye on such a huge number of Pokémon all gathered together. But now he could hardly stand to see them all milling around, almost mocking him. Where were the humans? Where was the civilization? Where was Professor Oak, who would normally be in his lab working at this hour? Where was his infuriating rival, Blue, and how was it possible that Red missed even _him_? And most importantly, where were his mother and father?

Red kept up his search until he was completely exhausted. His paws ached, and his stomach was numb. Shocked grief had worn away at him until he could almost feel nothing at all.

He lifted his muzzle and howled at the noonday sun.

"Pup." The single, grunted word from behind him made Red look over his shoulder. A majestic Arcanine stood behind him, dwarfing both him and another Growlithe that stood off to the side. The Arcanine inclined his head in an imposing way, and Red's tail dropped instinctively. "Do you wish to come with me?"

"Come with you?" Red repeated dully.

"Yes." The Arcanine's eyes softened as he said, "It's obvious that you have nowhere else to go." Red wanted to snap at the Arcanine. He wanted to snarl that he already _had_ somewhere he belonged. His home was less than half a mile away!

But he couldn't go back—not now, when everything was so wrong. He could lie on the porch, waiting for the inhabitants of Pallet Town to return. Or he could scavenge for human food like the other Pokémon in town. He didn't want to do either of those things. It was too hard for him to stand seeing his hometown like this. All he wanted to do was leave. And this Arcanine was giving him a chance to do that.

"Okay," he replied in a husky dog-whine. The huge dog Pokémon gave a nod and led the two Growlithe far from Pallet Town, into the almost endless forests.


	2. We Live, Always Together

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "You and Me and** ** **Pokémon." ("We live, always together, sharing the same bright sun, you and me and**** ** ** **Pokémon.")******

 **Chapter Two**

We Live, Always Together

A cheerful river ran at the base of a sheer cliff. On one side of the water, the hilly ground sloped gradually down to the banks; on the other side, the scarp jutted upward without any introduction whatsoever. A pack of Growlithe had their home in the shelter offered by the looming rock wall. Red saw mother Growlithe with tiny puppies; old, gray-tinged Growlithe; young Growlithe like himself; and other Growlithe of every age and size. He and the other newcomer stood awkwardly, uncertain how to proceed. A powerful-looking male ambled up to them. "Who are these sucklings?" he snorted.

"They had no place to lay their heads," the Arcanine told him. "I am allowing them to stay here." More Growlithe trotted over, sniffing the new Growlithe with interest. Their wagging tails beat against Red's flanks. He stood still and kept his eyes averted, trying not to make a rankling first impression.

"They smell funny!" yipped a puppy down below him.

"Where are they from?" the puppy's mother inquired.

"We came from Pallet Town," Red answered, nervous. "I'm Red."

"And I'm Turquoise," the other Growlithe mumbled.

"What sort of names are those?" an aged Growlithe scoffed.

"Are you from another pack?" a young female asked them. The Arcanine put an end to all the questioning.

"They are without a pack of their own. We will be their home for the time being." He showed Turquoise and Red to an unoccupied hollow at the base of the cliff. "It is our time to hunt. We will return with food and greet the moon." He let out a booming bark, and instantly, every Growlithe who didn't have puppies to care for bounded to his side. They galloped off into the trees, leaving Red and Turquoise behind to watch the bitches shepherd their little ones back into cozy nests.

The hunters returned close to nightfall. Red's long fast had finally caught up to him, and he was consumed by a raging hunger. Yet he stopped short in dismay when he saw what the Growlithe had brought for their pack mates to eat. It was a huge Rapidash, who once must have been glorious to look at but was now limp and lifeless. The flames that had graced its head and tail had gone out. Red turned from the sickening sight. Shuddering violently, Turquoise did the same. They lay with their faces crinkled up into twin expressions of disgust, listening to the Growlithe tear into the dead Pokémon's flesh. At length a friendly Growlithe approached them with a chunk of meat in his jowls.

"Have some," he invited them, dropping the hunk at their paws. "You haven't eaten in a while, right?" The two of them beheld the bloody meat with their eyes huge. "It's all right; everyone gets a share," the Growlithe went on. When neither Red nor Turquoise made a move to eat, he looked more closely at the two of them. "Oh…you're not weaned yet? Sorry," he apologized awkwardly. "Wait here—I'll see if any of the girls can spare you some milk." He picked up the meat again and trotted away. Red buried his face in his paws and moaned. The thought of getting his supper the same way infants did was almost too demeaning to bear.

The rest of the Growlithe left Red and Turquoise to themselves as they stripped every bit of meat from their prey's bones. When they were finished feasting, a soft-eyed female came up to them. "I only have one pup," she told them quietly. "There's room for the two of you to suck with him, if you like." Turquoise and Red shared a glum look; Red might have been content to go without supper for the second night in a row if he hadn't felt so light-headed.

"Thank you," Turquoise murmured. They got to their paws as one and followed their surrogate mother to a den by the river. Her son leapt around her as she approached. He had the bluish eyes of a very young puppy, and was obviously far from being a mature Growlithe. The humiliation of curling up with him at the female Growlithe's side almost won out over Red's hunger. But he swallowed his pride along with the creamy milk she offered, and relished the long-awaited feeling of fullness in his belly. Turquoise and the pup fell fast asleep when they were done nursing. Red, his head propped on the female Growlithe's ribs, stared at the moon— the one thing that connected everyone, wherever they were.

"You're too old to be drinking milk," the mother told him sleepily, although there was no chiding in her voice. "And surely too young to be alone." She blinked perceptively at Red. "Where is your mother?"

Red licked his lips without a clue how to answer her. "I…don't know." He whined long and low without really realizing it.

"My name is Embers' Fire," the she-Growlithe said to him in a gentle voice.

"Red," Red introduced himself hoarsely. "Of Pallet Town."

* * *

His new life as a Growlithe was markedly different from his old one as a Pokémon Trainer. When he was a human, he'd had _status_. Sure, everyone was always comparing him to Blue— both boys came from the same town, so they were often equated with one another. But however irritatingly often people said Blue was a better Trainer, Red would never let it dampen his spirit. After all, he was a talented Trainer in his own right, with a whole lot of Pokémon, and two gym badges of his own, besides. Where were those badges now, Red wondered. More importantly, where were his Pokémon? He worried about where they had gone, and how they were getting along without him. Not a day passed when he didn't think of his beloved Pokémon friends, and everything he'd left behind when he gained paws instead of legs.

As a Growlithe, by contrast, he was pretty much at the bottom of the hierarchy. Everything seemed to be united against him to bring him down to the lowest rung. Besides being the new dog in town, he was young and quite inexperienced when it came to pack matters. Add that to the fact that he was nursing when he had long ago outgrown the need for milk…he shouldn't have been surprised when he was patronized, almost babied, by the other members. He suspected they could see right through him in some ways. For instance, he got the feeling they knew that he was well beyond the need for suckling. And it was pretty obvious Red didn't know the first thing about pack etiquette and behavior. He was hoping that the Growlithe simply thought he was from a faraway pack, and didn't know the rules where this new pack was concerned. He didn't know what the Growlithe around him would do if they found out he was really a human boy in a Pokémon's body.

Despite the embarrassment of acting as though he were much younger than he really was, Red truly enjoyed being able to stay with Embers' Fire. Her puppy, Sparking Fire, was just about the only one in the whole pack who looked up to Turquoise and Red. "I've never had a big brother," he would yap happily, "and now I have _two_!" The three of them wrestled together, practicing attacks that before, Red had only told other Pokémon to do. Now _he_ could perform them, and he got a real thrill out of being able to charge an oak tree and slam his head into the trunk in a Skull Bash. He and Turquoise taught themselves all the standard physical attacks: Head Butt, Tackle, Body Slam, Scratch. But the coolest attacks—Fire-type—they couldn't learn. Red, Turquoise, and Sparking Fire spent much effort trying to make flames come out of their mouths, but all they ended up doing was standing dumbly with their mouths open. Not even smoke would come out. It was the only unintentional thing Red did that placed him into the "puppy" category. Other Growlithe who looked about his age could do it without much trouble. Many Growlithe who couldn't be that much older than he was often made fire attacks look easy.

Embers' Fire was perfectly content to take the new Growlithe from Pallet Town under her wing. She never scolded them for drinking milk when she, above all, must have known that they had been weaned long ago. But Red noticed other Growlithe in the pack urging Turquoise and him to act their age. Several times a day, one or more Growlithe would offer one of them meat to eat. It was a custom that, when a puppy reached the teething age, the rest of the pack members would join the mother in luring the pup to his first taste of meat. From there, it was an easier matter to transition the puppy to an entirely carnivorous diet. Banked Fire, the Growlithe who had offered them part of the Rapidash on their first day, was especially consistent. Every day, when he got back from hunting with the pack, he brought them some morsel to eat. He offered them the pieces that he obviously found the most tasty—but of course, Red and Turquoise couldn't help their revulsion. Still, his kind gestures didn't go unappreciated, and Red very quickly took a liking to the good-natured Growlithe. Banked Fire waved his tail around for Sparking Fire to pounce on. He taught Red and Turquoise how to box with their forepaws and kick with their hind legs. They began to look forward to seeing him each day in spite of the distasteful shanks of meat hanging from his jaws.

If Banked Fire and Embers' Fire made life in the pack worthwhile, Wildfire made it worse. He was the first Growlithe they had seen when they came to live with the Growlithe colony. It was no secret that he scorned the newcomers. As busy as pack life kept him, he always managed to spare an insult or a scathing glare for Red or Turquoise. He spoke to them condescendingly at best. His jibes were often backed up by a snarl, or a mouthful of bared teeth. Turquoise was beaten down by his remarks, and took to making himself scarce whenever Wildfire was around. Red, on the other hand, felt indignant: he strove to keep his angry urges under control.

One day it came down to a dogfight between them. Wildfire kept pushing his limits until finally Red couldn't stand any more of his mockery. He leaped on top of Wildfire and knocked him onto his side. The two of them rolled over and over, pawing and biting at one another. "Do you think you can get the better of me, little whelp?" snarled the bigger Dog Pokémon. He brought his weight down on Red to crush him. One of his large paws slammed against Red's chest and kept him down.

Red growled at his assailant. "Yes," he answered, showing his canine teeth. I do." He took a deep breath and felt a powerful heat build up in his lungs. " _Graaaaa!_ " Fire shot out of his mouth. He had succeeded in performing the Flamethrower attack! It knocked Wildfire off him and seemed to do damage to him, as well. The big male shook his head from side to side.

"You pathetic nursling!" he snarled. He opened his mouth and used a Flamethrower of his own. Red countered with the same attack. Their shots of fire connected with one another in a roar. Before Red knew what had happened, his flame had won. It drove Wildfire's back and engulfed the howling Growlithe in heat. Red was victorious.

Wildfire fled into the woods to lick his wounds. He didn't pick fights with Red anymore after that. Red even heard one of the older females remark, "Amazing. You know, I've never seen a flame-breath hotter than Wildfire's is, not until today."

Once he had triumphed over the Pokémon determined to bully him into submission, Red received more respect from the pack. Strange, though, how it didn't mitigate his feelings of humiliation. There was no pleasure in existing as a puppy. He couldn't do this for much longer.

Time passed, and two weeks later, Red and Turquoise sat taking in the sunset together. The tension and humiliation festering inside Red drove him to ask the question they had been asking themselves all along. "What are we doing here?" he muttered. "We're Pokémon Trainers! We're not supposed to go back to the baby stage!"

"Do Pokémon Trainers eat the flesh of Pokémon?" Turquoise answered rhetorically, his voice soft. "We don't have another choice."

"But we do." Red stared soberly into his friend's eyes. "We could leave."

"Where would we go?" Turquoise wondered aloud.

"We wandered the world as Trainers before. We can do it as Pokémon again." Red gazed upward once more. "I've thought a lot about it. The wind kicked up, and then I got knocked out. After that, I was changed into a Growlithe. I think maybe the same thing happened all over the region. I've _got_ to find out why. My Pokémon need me!" Again he looked at Turquoise, earnestly. "And how many people ended up like us, scared, didn't know what to do? Were they as lucky as us, with a group of Pokémon to take them in?" He sighed. "Sure, food will be hard to find on my own, but it beats drinking milk." Turquoise smiled a little, trying to put a brave face on things.

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know," Red admitted with a shrug. "Wherever I can find some answers." He looked at his friend. "Will you come with me?"

Turquoise shuffled his paws uncomfortably. "I have to stay here," he said softly, but with certainty. "My Pokémon are somewhere around Pallet Town, I just know it. And I can't leave until I find them." Solemnly, he put a paw on Red's shoulder. "I'll miss you. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thanks. You, too," Red mumbled. The two of them licked along one another's necks and shoulders: a Growlithe's affectionate farewell.


	3. Your Travel Route's So Far

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "Never Too Far from Home." ("A trainer's life is hard. Your travel route's so far, away from friends and family...")  
**

 **Chapter Three**

Your Travel Route's So Far…

"If it is your wish to depart, young Trainer, who am I to stop you?" Red had taken the Arcanine leader aside to tell him of his plans to leave. The two of them stood alone where no one could hear them. Otherwise, Red would have looked frantically around when the Arcanine said what he did. He did _not_ want the other pack members to know who he really was. Then it hit him. This Arcanine _did_ know who he really was!

"You know?" he whispered, stunned. "You know that I'm a…"

"A human? Of course," the Arcanine rumbled. "You're no Growlithe, pup. It's obvious just by looking at you."

"Does everyone know?" Red asked him, dreading the answer. The Arcanine let out his breath through his nostrils, paused, and began to speak thoughtfully.

"The world is changed, pup. The humans are gone, Pokémon in their place. It is as though a great evolution has taken place—not from one kind of Pokémon into another, but of humans _into_ Pokémon. We do not know what to make of this, or how to proceed." He gazed down at Red. "I can merely help those Growlithe who ask for it. No more. Perhaps you can give aid where I cannot."

"I-I don't know if I can do it, but I'm gonna try," Red promised. He stared up at the magnificent Pokémon who commanded the respect of all around him. "I truly thank you for all you've done, Arcanine."

"Raging Fire is my name," Arcanine reminded him. "Come. The pack will bid you farewell." He led Red back to the thronging Growlithe. With a single, commanding bark, he drew everyone's attention. "Listen to me, my pack. One of the pups who joined us is leaving our number. He means to find the friends he left behind."

"No!" whined Sparking Fire. "Red! Don't go!" He scampered forward and reared up on his hind legs to lean against Red's chest. "I don't want you to leave!"

"Sorry, Sparking Fire," Red murmured to the puppy who had been his family while he was here. "My friends are waiting for me. I promised them."

"You must go, then." The voice was that of Embers' Fire, who came out of the crowd to nuzzle Red lovingly. "I was happy for you to stay with me," she said softly into his floppy ear. "I will not be glad to see you go."

"I'm sorry, but I have to," Red replied, rubbing his head against her. "Thank you, Embers' Fire. You gave me a place to stay when no one else would."

"Red. . ." whimpered Sparking Fire. "Red. . ."

"Goodbye, Sparking Fire," Red murmured, licking him under the chin. He wagged his tail encouragingly and trotted away. "Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for everything." It was plain that not all the Pokémon were disappointed to see him go. Although Embers' Fire, Sparking Fire, and Turquoise stared at him morosely, Wildfire glared openly, and other pack members simply seemed indifferent. But according to custom, the Growlithe began barking and howling in unison as he left. When Raging Fire stepped in front of them and gave a snort, they raised their heads together and blasted flames at the sky. With such a dazzling display to speed him on his way, Red began to run. He didn't stop, even when he could no longer hear the roaring Flame Thrower and the quavering howl of Sparking Fire.

* * *

Red covered a lot of ground that day, and the day after that. He seemed to be able to pad on for miles without getting tired. It was a good thing he could, because he didn't plan on going back to Pallet Town. He wasn't sure where he wanted to go, but he refused to return to his hometown as it was now. After traveling aimlessly for a few days, he found himself heading south.

Food was hard to find, as he'd known it would be. Whenever he could, he dug through garbage to come up with anything edible he could scrounge up. In the towns, he followed other Pokémon, walking into markets to take the food right off the shelves. The produce was rotting where it sat, but dried food was plentiful—spilled all over the floor, in many cases. If he managed to get into the big refrigerators and freezers, Red could feast on meat. But those meals were few and far between. Mostly Red traversed the wild regions, where there was no civilization. Berries, roots, Beedrill honey—he took what he could get, and he was always hungry.

Every Pokémon he met, he made sure to ask about Poliwrath or Bulbasaur, or any of his other Pokémon. But the search was largely fruitless. Some Pokémon would tell him they had seen a Poliwrath, but they weren't sure if it was his. Or they would mention that they had seen a group of Pikachu on their travels, but where did that get Red? Even worse for Red was when other Trainers eagerly asked him if he had seen their Pokémon. Guiltily, he was always forced to admit that he didn't have any ideas at all. In this new Poké-fied world, there was no good way to go about looking for them.

The farther he went, the closer he came to the spot where he had last been a human being. Part of him dreaded returning to the place where the excruciating transformation had come upon him. But he couldn't afford to shun the only place where he might get answers. Any clue that could point him in the right direction would be worth sore paws and a gnawing stomach. He _had_ to turn himself back. There had to be a way to, and he would find it! Once he was human again, everything would be all right.


	4. Fight for Survival

**A/N: This chapter title is from the tenth season theme song "Diamond and Pearl." ("New rivals, as you fight for survival. Nothing can stop you, Diamond and Pearl.")  
**

 **Chapter Four**

Fight for Survival

Red stretched his paws out in front of him as the sun warmed his fur. He wasn't any less tired and hungry than he had been yesterday, but that didn't change the fact that he had to get moving. Reluctantly he got to his feet and forced his paws to move. Onward he went, his purpose fixed in his mind even though it seemed faraway. All he knew was that he must go back to the place his human feet had last touched ground. From there, surely he could find the solution he sought.

He stopped to lap up puddles of water and munch grass still moist with yesterday's rain. It was nasty to eat, but it kept his stomach from hurting, at least. As the sun rose and dried the ground somewhat, he got lucky and came across a Beedrill hive. For some minutes, he stood against a tree, stretching as high as he could reach, and licked honey trickling down the rough bark. An angry Beedrill finally noticed him and drove him off. The sting of the incensed Bug-type Pokémon left Red's nose throbbing for hours. Often he pawed his nose and rubbed his face along the ground, in his doglike way, to ward off the pain. In doing so, he stumbled on a fine foraging spot. Underneath a decaying log, there were hundreds of grubs to be found, and Red was scarfing them up before being fully aware of what he was doing. Yet even after coming to grips with the fact that he was ingesting insect larvae, he was too famished to stop eating. He didn't stop until he could find no more.

His lope slowed and his paws dragged as he traveled on. And it seemed sudden to him when he lifted his head and realized that he had reached the area where he had last been two-legged. It had been here…

And here he was, paws and muzzle muddied, fur matted, tail dragging along the ground.

What was he doing, standing here? What had he thought he could accomplish, by coming all the way back? All it did was remind him of his Pokémon—long gone—and the unwelcome, excruciating transformation that had been forced upon him. He shivered at the remembrance. But…

If he stood here again, would something else happen? Would he be turned back to a boy? Did it have to do with standing in this spot?

Red knew he was being stupid. A worldwide transfiguration had taken place; he thought he could reverse it just by standing here?

Then a man hacked his way out of the underbrush off to the side. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and plain black clothes on. At first Red was more taken aback at the man's arrival than anything else. The newcomer grinned as though he had expected to find a Pokémon where Red was.

"Hey, Growlithe. You look hungry." He slung his pack down off his shoulder and called behind him, "Jolteon! Look what we have here." It took a Jolteon's jumping out of the brush to bring Red to his senses. The man was _human_! How? Was there a section of land that had escaped the Poké-fication? Had this man managed to turn himself back to normal somehow?

Jolteon barked when his Trainer pulled out a bag of food. The man dumped it without much regard onto the round. Jolteon began eating as the man reached out a hand to Red. "Here, Growlithe—here, boy. Come on and eat. This stuff's perfect for you. Come on." Red bounded forward without more urging and started to gobble down the Poké chow. The Trainer ran a hand over Red's flank. "You're awful thin, Growlithe. Too thin to be a wild Pokémon. Do you belong to someone else?" Red wagged his tail unconsciously and kept eating. He ate until the man had to dump more of the food pellets onto the grass. He would have eagerly eaten more after his second helping, but the Trainer didn't get out the chow bag for a third time when Red sat up to lick his chops. He petted Red, his hand hesitating on the tussock of fur on the top of the Growlithe's head. "Black cowlick, huh? Never seen _that_ before." Now he held up a Pokédex and scanned Red with it. "Oh, I see—you're not a Pokémon at all." He slipped the Pokédex back into his pocket and pulled a small stone from the same place. "Look at this, 'Growlithe,'" he said, showing Red how the sunlight glittered on the stone's surface. "I've got something you want: it'll change you back to normal." At that, Red let out a joyous, impetuous bark. All doubt gone, he jumped up against the man's legs and whimpered, never taking his eyes off the crystalline stone. He barked again. The Trainer chuckled and agreed, "All right. Let's see who you really are." He grabbed Red as though he were hugging the Puppy Pokémon close, then pressed the stone against Red's wet nose.

The heat and pain were just as he remembered them. He howled and tried to pull away, but the Trainer held him fast. The grin on the man's face was lit up by the glowing light that Red could only assume was shining from his furred body.

But not furred for much longer. Red could feel his joints shifting, the hair on his body disappearing. The pain was incredibly intense. He nearly couldn't breathe, and his vision was going blurry. It was the only time in his life that Red not only didn't mind the agony, but welcomed it. This was _it_. He was turning back. . .

He raised his head and opened his eyes, slowly coming to the knowledge that he was dead weight in the man's arms. The older Trainer let him down onto the ground, commenting, "Now, that's more like it." Red felt chilled. It didn't take him long to figure out that, now that he was a human boy, he had no clothes on. Before he could even blush, the man pulled out a shirt and some pants and threw them onto Red's head. "All right, put those on." Red did so gratefully, even though the black clothes were ill-fitting and rather frayed. The man hunkered down beside him, watching his face closely. He waved his hand experimentally through Red's line of vision. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"All right…" Red answered. He pushed himself unsteadily upright, swayed a moment, and found his balance. "All right—all right!" he cried. He was standing on two feet! "I feel great!" He held out his arm and shook the Trainer's hand. "This is _amazing_! How did you do it?"

"What, this?" the Trainer drawled as he held up the little stone to catch the light. He put it back into his pocket and smirked. "Tricks of the trade, boy. Secrets."

"But how did you get away when the rest of the humans were turned into Pokémon?" Red wanted to know.

"I guess I just got lucky." The Trainer lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "But I want to know about you. What town do you come from? Where are your Pokémon?"

"I lost my Pokémon during the transformation," replied Red, bowing his head for a moment. "I'm from Pallet Town."

"Pallet Town?" repeated the older Trainer. He pulled out a Pokédex and held it up. "This wouldn't happen to be yours, would it?"

Red lifted his gaze, hoping it was his cap, but what he saw astonished him. It was Blue's name on the Pokédex, along with his stats and other data. "Golduck, Charmeleon, Porygon, Hitmonchamp. . ." he murmured the Pokémon's names by rote even though he couldn't see the screen well from this distance. "Where did you get this?" he asked slowly.

"So, you _do_ recognize it," the man noted with satisfaction. Red took the handheld database from the Trainer's outstretched hand and scrolled through the info page.

"Of course I do," he answered absently. Again he asked, "Where did you get it?"

"I found it after the 'evolution,'" the man replied, waving his hand in the air to indicate the worldwide transformation. He grinned in an almost mocking way. "There's a lot of things lying around, things Trainers left behind. They're free for the taking."

Red frowned. He didn't like the way this stranger was capitalizing on other people's misfortune—catastrophe, even. What else had he stolen to keep for himself? And where was the Pokédex's true owner? "You needed a Pokédex of your own?" he questioned, keeping his voice casual.

The Trainer lifted one shoulder. "Not quite. I took this one specially. Y'see, I'm _very_ interested in finding the owner." He was rooting through his knapsack now. Red perked up as he watched. Was there another clue to Blue's whereabouts hidden inside? The man pulled out a paper bag and opened it. But all that was inside was some sort of powder. "That would be you, wouldn't it?" the man went on. "Blue Oak, the pride of Pallet Town?"

Red's mouth dropped open in surprise. How could the older Trainer have made such an obvious mistake—especially when he had such an apparent interest in Blue? "Huh? No, that's not me," he corrected him.

The man chuckled. "Don't play dumb now, boy. You recognize the 'dex, you know all the Pokémon."

"I'm _not_ Blue," Red reiterated with more force. Why did everyone keep thinking that? Wasn't Red at all famous in his own right? "I'm—"

"Your _lies_ won't work on me, boy," the Trainer snapped. His face had turned suddenly ugly. Or had it always been that way, and Red was too naïve to see it? "I'm looking for a couple of very specific Trainers, and you just happen to be one of them, Blue Oak." He had a handkerchief in his hand now, and he dipped some of the powder out of the bag with it. Before Red could react, the man's brawny arm swept around him again and pinned his arms against his sides. He clapped the cloth over the lower half of Red's face like a bandana. "I'd ask you to come along nicely, but I don't think you'll like where we're going," he drawled as though they were in the middle of a pleasant conversation. Red writhed like a Caterpie, but it was an unbreakable embrace. The pungent smell in the cloth made him cough when he breathed it. Too late, he realized that he should've been holding his breath. It was some sort of drug. And it was making him lightheaded. "So I'll just take you by force," the man declared. Red didn't hear the words. They reverberated in his head as his body stiffened. He was paralyzed.

And when his captor let him drop to the ground, he must've hit his head, because he didn't remember anything else.


	5. Your Rival

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "2B A Master." ("Are you ready to meet and defeat the elite? Can I expect survival against your rival?")  
**

 **Chapter Five**

Your Rival

Blue Oak was hot on the trail of his Pokémon. Ever since the mysterious transformation, he had been hunting them relentlessly. It was extremely difficult to sort them out from the rest of the world's Pokémon. He had tried to rely on scent, but his nose couldn't be counted on to help him. The best way to proceed, he found, was to track his Golduck. Golduck were rare. Even after the new deluge of Pokémon into the area, Blue found that Golduck tracks didn't often lead him down a false trail. There was, however, the difficulty in getting the tracks mixed up with his own footprints.

Because he was a Golduck now.

He envied others who had turned into land-dwelling Pokémon. It was like a handicap for him to have to traverse hills—even mountains—on webbed feet. Even flat ground became endless and exhausting. He took water routes whenever possible, but that wasn't often.

That was the advantage to being a Water Pokémon, though. He had always ridden on his Golduck's back using Surf, but it could never compare with being able to surf the waves himself. He expended hardly any effort gliding through the water, whereas before, waves would buffet him and strong currents would pull him down.

There was no lack of fish in the lakes and streams. He saw other Pokémon scrounging for food, even attacking each other for it. But he was spared such desperation. His stomach was full at night.

He had traveled far in his search. It was a strange, frightening new reality. Humans no longer ruled it. There were only Pokémon in this world now, as far as Blue could infer. The abandoned Poké Balls, clothes, buildings, stretched on and on. And the Pokémon were unbelievably numerous. How could he possibly find his Pokémon partners in such a colossal number? But he had to try. There was no _way_ he was going to give up or abandon them, not after all they'd been through together—after all his Pokémon had done for him. Now he would put every drop of his effort into reuniting with them again.

They weren't anywhere near Lavender Town. He trekked down toward Mt. Moon, through the Viridian Forest, and all the way to Viridian City. Nothing. Which brought him to his hometown. Which was where he came face-to-bill with something that astounded him. _Humans_. In the flesh.

He saw his rival Red, dressed all in black. His hat was missing, and he had dark circles under his eyes. There was a man nearby kindling a fire, with a Jolteon by his feet. Red was gathering wood when he came upon what he thought was an ordinary Golduck. Blue looked up to see Red staring down at him with a kind of weary fondness. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the young Trainer with dead seriousness. Red paused, and his smile vanished. He could see the meaning that the Pokémon was trying to convey.

"What is it?" came the question from the Jolteon Trainer. Red started and hitched the sticks higher in his arms.

"Nothing. A Pokémon, that's all." The man turned his head.

"Is it yours?" He came over to stand next to Red. "Well, lookit that! It's a Golduck!" He took the wood from Red and tossed it down. "Scan it."

"I-It's not mine," Red stammered. "Just an ordinary wild Pokémon. I already scanned it."

"You haven't gotten out your Pokédex all day," the man grunted. His eyes glinted. "Scan it."

Red reached haltingly into his hip pocket and produced a Pokédex. He waved it toward the Golduck and hit the _Scan_ button. The blue light blinked on and off. Red seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for something to happen. But nothing registered onscreen.

"That's no Pokémon!" the older Trainer crowed. His eyes lit up, but not in a pleasant way. He took something small out of his shirt and reached toward Blue.

"Wait!" Red protested, getting in the man's way. "You have no idea who it is!"

The man pushed Red aside. "That's what I aim to find out!" He put the hard object against the Golduck's bill. Blue was overwhelmed by a crippling—but somehow familiar—pain. He cried out and would have fallen back, but the Trainer had his hand wrapped around Blue's beak. The pain tore through him, and he felt his body rearranging. Could it be?

Finally, the horrible sensation was gone. The little stone that had been touching him was pulled away from his lips. Blue was on his hands and knees, breathing laboriously. "What's your name, boy?" he heard the gravelly voice ask him. He raised his head. Through half-closed eyes, he could see Red's face pleading with him urgently but silently. He thought he knew what his rival was trying to communicate. His mouth tightened before he declared hoarsely,

"Red, from Pallet Town." The real Red gave a single tiny nod. His anxious brown eyes met the man's. But the older Trainer looked smugly pleased.

"Red? You don't say." He slung a backpack down from his back and unzipped it. "Because I just happen to be looking for someone by that name." There was a grocery bag in his hands now. Blue was bewildered. Was the man planning to give him new clothes? Why was he looking for Red? And why didn't he realize that the object of his search was standing at his shoulder?

" _No!"_ Red yelled. Like a football player, he rammed his shoulder into the Trainer's side. The attack was so surprising that the man was knocked off his feet. The two of them went down together. The man wrestled and pinned Red down within seconds. "I _won't_ let you do to him what you've done to me!" Red snarled. But despite his rash actions and his brave words, Blue saw a shadow of fear in Red's eyes when the man brought the stone close to the boy's skin.

"You'll do what I say," he growled into Red's face. "Or pay the consequences." Red tried and failed to get free. Slowly and deliberately, the man touched the pebble to the young Trainer's nose.

"No— _aaaahhhhh_!" Red screamed out. Transfixed, Blue watched Red's body curl in on itself and grow hair. His nose turned black, and black stripes appeared all over him. Just when Blue was starting to recognize the features of a Growlithe, Red's tormentor removed the stone from contact with him.

But the transformation wasn't complete. Red's scream of agony was also the howl of a Puppy Pokémon. His voice wavered strangely, neither human nor Pokémon, but both. His shirt was too big for him, but the pants constricted his doglike lower limbs. The boots dangled at the end of paws. Patches of orange fur littered his human skin. Then Red began to cough. Once he had started, he couldn't seem to stop. They came faster and faster, racking his body. Smoke poured from his mouth.

Horrified, Blue shouted, "Stop it! What are you _doing_?!" The man stared stonily down at Red-Growlithe. Blue tried again, louder, to be heard over the shriek-howls of pain. " _Stop it!_ His lungs can't coexist with the visceral flame sacs! He might die!"

Blue must have gotten through to him, because the man put the stone against Red's still-human forehead. His body shrank and returned to normal while he screamed in pain. After what seemed an age to Blue, his rival was a boy again—a shivering, gasping boy. Once the man got up from on top of him, he sat up with effort and shoved his shoes back onto his feet. From his backpack, the man pulled out a new set of clothes and threw them at the boy he assumed was Red. Blue caught them and immediately pulled on the rough fabric and short leather boots, out of necessity rather than gratitude.

"Get up," the man ordered him. He jerked his thumb at Blue. "Come on. We're going as far as we can before nightfall. And you'd better not slow me down." As Red stood up, he was so unsteady that he almost fell back down. Blue leaped to his side and held him upright. "Get moving," the man said. Blue glared at him out of hazel eyes. Without being commanded to, the Jolteon sent a bolt of lightning at them. It cracked into the ground in front of their feet, and Blue dodged backwards, pulling Red with him.

"Just do what he says," Red rasped out. He started moving his feet in a wooden fashion. Blue moved with him to support him.

"Are you _insane_?" he hissed into his rival's ear. "You're going _with_ him? Look what he's done to you _already!_ Do you have any idea where he's taking you?" Red had his eyes fixed on the ground. Every step he took seemed to expend visible effort. For obvious reasons or not, he wouldn't look Blue in the eye. Again he said quietly,

"Just do what he says."


	6. The Struggle Is Long

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "The Game." ("With power when we need to be strong, and comfort when the struggle is long, we hold on to all that we know is true.")**

 **Chapter Six**

The Struggle Is Long

They walked almost without stopping for the rest of the day. Their captor drove them mercilessly onward without rest. Despite his aching muscles, Blue was glad that he was the one being forced to carry the heavy pack. Red had been doing poorly since the journey's start, and he only worsened as the hours stretched on. His feet dragged and his breathing was labored. Blue often stared sidelong at him, wondering for the hundredth time if he was going to keel over. But somehow, Red kept moving.

It was strange. A Pokémon Trainer would be no stranger to endless walking. All the more after being transformed. If Red's first weeks of existence as a Pokémon had been anything like Blue's, he had done thousands of steps' worth of walking in the past weeks. The length of the journey should be nothing new to Red. And if it was unusually exerting for him? Blue assumed that even then, Red could rise to the challenge like the Trainer he was.

It was as though something were wrong with him. And Blue didn't know what it was.

"What did he do to you?" he murmured the question aloud. He couldn't tell if Red heard it or not.

* * *

They weren't permitted to take a break until it was obvious that Red couldn't continue. With the backpack on one shoulder, Blue was supporting his rival on his other shoulder. Red had been walking earlier, but now his feet dragged on the ground. Despite being young and strong, Blue couldn't keep going under the new strain for more than a few yards. Not when he had been plodding along for the last six hours without food, drink, or rest.

From behind them, the Trainer called, "Hold it! We'll stop here for a minute." That was all Blue needed to hear to make him drop the backpack to the ground. He sat down where he was, bringing Red with him. Both of them gasped for air. "Get some water," the man added like an afterthought. As though the words were magic, Red's head lifted and his eyes cleared. He crawled with an abrupt burst of energy to a thicket of bushes and pushed his way through them. As accurate as a Growlithe on the scent, he made a Beedrill-line for a stream nearby. Blue hadn't known it was there, but when he followed his rival's rough-plowed trail, there it was. Red was lying on his stomach on the sand-smoothed rocks on the shore. His face was buried in the water. Scowling, Blue threw himself down next to the Trainer and gripped the boy's black hair to pull his head up. Red looked as though he were drowning.

"Wh-wh-what?" Red sputtered, water running down his face and shirt. His face tensed into a grimace of pain, and he knocked Blue's hand away.

"Is that any way to get a drink?" Blue pointed out testily. Red hadn't even put up a façade of dignity.

"I'm thirsty," Red replied bluntly. He put his head down into the same position again. He slurped from the stream—and sometimes ended up gasping and coughing in his desperation to drink so fast. Blue rolled his eyes and went to scoop water into his hand. But to his shock, his left hand had crusted blood on it. Disturbed, he moved downstream of his rival and rubbed his palms underwater. When had he cut himself? He couldn't remember. He drew his hands up and peered at them. Again he received a surprise—the blood was gone. He flexed his left hand, confused. If it wasn't his blood, then…

Red had put his whole head into the stream and was rubbing it. Looking closely at the water, Blue saw traces of blood drift past him in the current. His eyes narrowed and his brows contracted. What was going on here, just under the surface?

He returned to Red's side just as his rival had finally had his fill of water and was wiping his face on his baggy sleeve. Blue met his eyes and, without a word, used his own scratchy sleeves to roughly mop Red's hair dry. Looking around furtively, he took a sharp stone out of his pocket and used it to make a rip at the bottom hem of his shirt. He tore off a long strip of cloth and bound it around his rival's head. What a pathetic bandage it made. But he could do no better at the moment.

Red accepted his help with neither gratitude nor complaint—almost as though he expected it, like a child waiting for help from a superior. Blue pocketed the rock. Once he had drunk as much as he could, he and Red left the water's side. A doomed prisoner knows by instinct when his moment of false freedom is over. They dragged their feet back to their captor, the Jolteon circling around them and making sure they wouldn't run. As if they had the strength to. Blue drew a long breath and pulled the backpack strap onto his shoulder. Red breathed an unsteady sigh and locked his legs.

Then, they trudged onward.

* * *

The approach of darkness was cool and welcoming in every way. They couldn't travel at night, and Blue waited with barely curbed impatience for it to become too dark to see. And then they could come to a halt.

"Stop here," the Trainer ordered them at long last. In one movement, Blue and Red sat down so hard on the ground that under ordinary circumstances, they would have felt the pain. But how could they feel anything besides their burning chests and aching legs? Their captor pulled human food out of his pack and threw it at them. Red had become like an animal: he pounced on the food on all fours. Not even sitting up to eat it, he hunkered over the fare and gnawed it out of his hands as though afraid someone would steal it. Certainly Blue wasn't about to. He wasn't that far gone. He scooped up what Red hadn't claimed and set it in his lap, munching on the hard bread and apples and wishing for something to wash it down.

When he was finished, Blue wiped his mouth on his sleeve and lay down. The ground wasn't getting any softer, but he had long since stopped being picky. Forget sleeping bags—just the chance to sleep was true bliss. He closed his eyes and—

"Pretend to be asleep."

And got interrupted. And by such an odd command. "I almost _was_ ," he complained in an undertone.

"Just—when he comes…pretend to be asleep," Red told him again. Blue could hear the same familiar fear in his voice. Despite his exhaustion, he forced his heavy eyelids open. Red's eyes were huge; he looked as far from sleep as could be. Blue propped himself up on one arm.

"What are you…" he muttered. Boots falling and grass crunching made him shut his mouth. Red's head swung toward the noise. Looking panicked, he pushed Blue's head down again.

"Sh! Remember what I said!" For some reason complying with his rival's wishes, Blue re-closed his eyes. Above him, Red's breathing was shallow and fast.

The Trainer stopped next to their nonexistent beds. "Ready to go to sleep?" he asked with threat rather than kindliness.

"I won't run," Red said quickly. "I never have. Neither of us will."

"Mm," was the only reply. Rummaging sounds. What horror was he getting out of his backpack this time?

"Don't you think we'll _sleep_ through the _night_ after today?" Red's voice was forceful, making his point. But also pleading, hoping his words would be heard. "Can't you see how tired he is?"

"So I should just take your word for it, huh?" the man asked, amused. "Your word that you'll be a good boy?" There was a scuffle. Red grunted with effort, obviously struggling. "Sorry, kid. Not gonna happen." More scuffling footfalls, but Red's grunts were muffled now. Pulse racing, Blue was about to roll to his feet, ready for anything. But then he heard a body slam into the ground and felt the vibration right next to him. His eyes flew open. Red's face was inches from his, eyes tightly closed in pain. The man was stalking away now, and the Jolteon wasn't in the vicinity. He dared to reach out and touch the little olive-green flecks around Red's mouth. He pressed one to his tongue and felt no surprise from the way his mouth seized up strangely. It was worse than any sour lemon could affect him. This was Stun Stem. When he could talk again, he asked the obvious question under his breath.

"Why you? Why you but not me?"

Red didn't, or couldn't, answer.

* * *

An odd interlude occurred somewhere between their gobbled meals, interminable marches, and sweet sleep. The Trainer was sitting bent over on a rock during a rare rest for the group. Even rarer, the Jolteon wasn't near to molest them. And Red stood stock still with his eyes fixed on a distant something far away. He seemed rooted to the spot. Then, out of nowhere, he tore a rock from the ground underfoot and threw it with a yell of frustration. Blue understood how he felt. The anguish on his rival's face was surely a reflection of how his own face looked.

They moved on, and Blue didn't find out the true reason behind the event until later.

* * *

It was time to get out of here. Blue had made up his mind.

Was he scared of doing so? Yes. Did the thought of getting caught in the act of escaping terrify him? Beyond all doubt.

Was he even more afraid of what was happening to him and Red _now_ , day by day, that perhaps they weren't even aware of?

Yes. And that was exactly why they had to get _away_. Today.

Everything seething under the surface was undeniably revealed in the little happenstances of each day. Yesterday had been just one of many examples. Whenever Red looked up, it was with fear. And most of the time his head was bowed. The shoulders that had once been squared with unwarranted confidence were now endlessly slumped. The eyes that had once sparkled with the unbridled joy of living were now dull with pain. It was…his spirit.

Red's fighting spirit was gone.

And among the innumerable fears in Blue's heart, the greatest fear was that he would become that way, too.

Sometimes their captor would leave them alone, under guard of the Jolteon, while he left to "scout out the terrain." (Blue still had no idea what the man was looking for, or where he was headed. They didn't appear to be making for any fixed destination as far as Blue could tell.) This was one of those times. And the opportunity couldn't have been more perfect: the Jolteon was sleeping. The journey was so arduous that even the Pokémon seemed fatigued, a testament to its master's relentlessness. Blue pulled Red's shirt sleeve so that the Trainer was facing him. "We have to leave." Red's eyes flickered to life as he processed the words.

"Why? You want to dig for food again?" he asked dully. "You remember what happened last time…" They hadn't even dug a half dozen grubs and roots between them when they were spotted and—but that wasn't the point here.

"I don't care what happened last time, and I don't care what'll happen _now_ ," Blue retorted. Red had been trying to change the subject, but Blue could tell that he had guessed the real meaning of Blue's statement. And Oak's grandson eliminated all doubt when he went on, "We're leaving, and we're never coming back."

"You mean—escape?" The last of Red's words came out in a whisper of a whisper. Blue shot him an irritated glance but nodded. "We…" Red stopped to wet his dry lips with his tongue. "We can't! What happens if we get caught?"

"What happens if we stay here?" Blue countered. Neither one of them knew the answer to that. "We don't know where he's taking us. What happens when we get there, huh? Or,"—his eyes narrowed—"how do you know we won't die on the way?" To bring death into the conversation would have been ludicrous in almost any other circumstance. But Blue was dead serious here. Red was silent—he couldn't argue back.

"We'll get caught," he mumbled again.

Blue took his rival by the shoulders in an attempt to make him see reason. "Don't you see what he's doing? To us? To _you_?" Red's eyes met his. Slowly, Blue shook his head once. "You're losing it, Red." No, not going insane. He didn't elaborate on what "it" was, either. But they seemed to understand each other in that moment.

Red wilted, his head bowing as his body drooped. He wouldn't look his rival in the eye. It was obvious that he was defeated by the truth of Blue's words. At the same time, he wasn't about to commit to Blue's scheme of outright rebellion. Blue could see that, yet it made little difference to him. He grabbed Red's wrist and dragged him along as fast as they could go. They were getting out of here whether Red wanted to or not.

Like the runaways they were, they fled through field and wood. Blue tried as best he could to lead them along old Pokémon trails. The last thing they needed was to plow a clear route of trampled vegetation through the forest. He could only hope that they weren't leaving tracks. As the sun was nearing the end of its course through the sky, they came to the end of their first bid for freedom.

For Jolteon was barking far behind them.

"Oh, no," Red moaned, covering his face with his hands. "No, no, no."

"Come on!" Blue snapped at him. He began dragging his rival along again like an unwilling Growlithe. His boots pounded the ground.

But their running wasn't closing the distance between them and their pursuer. Jolteon was getting closer. Red was panting; Blue's eyes darted in every direction, looking for an escape that wasn't there. "I knew this was a bad idea…" Red whispered.

The spinous electric Pokémon burst out of the bushes to the side, and Red's limp body finally came to life. He turned on his heel, grabbed the front of Blue's shirt, and threw him to the ground. Blue grunted from impact as he hit the dirt. Red came crashing down on top of him. "It's all your _fault_!" he screamed. To Blue's shock, his rival started lashing out, fists flying. He was so surprised by the attack that he took the punishment for several seconds before coming to his senses. Then he covered his face with his arms to avoid Red's latest barrage. When the punches slackened, Blue grabbed Red's wrists and shoved upward and outward. He succeeded in throwing Red off him and realized that his rival was still shouting. "If it hadn't been for _you_ , it would've _worked!_ We would've gotten _away!_ " Red attacked again as crunching boot steps heralded the arrival of the Jolteon's Trainer. He brought his body down on top of Blue, thrusting his elbow right into Blue's stomach, not unlike a Body Slam attack. "The plan was _perfect!_ And then you had to ruin _everything!_ " The man looked just as bemused as Blue felt, seeing the two boys wrestling on the ground. They looked almost like feuding Rocketeers. And Blue was on the losing end, which didn't happen to him often. He could hardly breathe after having had the wind knocked out of him.

Their captor dragged Red off of Blue without much effort. He held the boy's shirt front and glared at him through slitlike eyes. "So this was your idea, Blue?" Blue made the mistake of looking up at the sound of his name. Fortunately, the man was so focused on Red that he didn't see. "I knew you'd be harder to control," the Trainer muttered, apparently to himself. "But I _will_ control you," he hissed into Red's face. Now he was pulling the crystal out of his pocket. "You _will_ do what I say."

It hit Blue then: Red's motive for attack, his secret plan. He had framed himself for something that had been Blue's idea in the first place. He was taking Blue's punishment. As he always had, since the very first day.

"No," he called out hoarsely. He rolled to his feet with difficulty. "No, don't! It was my fault—my idea—"

"Shut up!" snarled Red. He really was playing the part perfectly, silencing Blue while loading his voice with false disdain.

"No," Blue repeated. "Stop! You don't get it—"

"Oh, I know _exactly_ whose fault it was," the man assured them both, his eyes fixed on Red, completely unaware that he was completely wrong on more than one account. "And don't worry, boy, you'll get your reward for your part in it," he promised, waving a hand in Blue's direction. Red dug in his heels and fought to get away as his tormentor brought the loathed stone close to his face. It glittered in the sunlight. But as usual, neither he nor Blue could prevent it from touching his skin.


	7. It'll Be All Right

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "Stay Together." ("If we just stay together, it'll be all right.")**

 **Chapter Seven**

It'll Be All Right

Red's scream was louder, longer, worse than ever before. And Blue was helpless to assist, as Jolteon was releasing a blindingly quick array of lightning bolts to cage him in. One wrong move and the electricity would hit him. He kept his arms folded against his sides, always flinching, throwing his head back, dancing around blasts of sizzling energy. And as his eyes flicked to the side, they spied something he hadn't seen in a long time.

His means of escape. And he bellowed the one word he had been longing to say for what seemed like years. "Attack!"

His Golduck burst from the trees and leveled a Psybeam on Jolteon. The Electric Pokémon fell back, and Blue ran forward to help. But his eyes went wide as he was shocked to the core for the second time that day.

A whole horde of Growlithe exploded from the forest, their growls and pounding paws shaking the wood. They threw themselves upon Red's attacker, who disappeared under a mound of orange bodies. More of the Dog Pokémon dragged Red to safety. He was halfway through his transformation again, twitching and howling, his clothes out of place. "Get the crystal!" Blue found himself shouting to them. One Growlithe threw the sparkling object out of the scuffle. Red pounced on it, holding it tightly in both hands. The fur faded, his fingers elongated, and his broad dog-face turned back to normal. He was left sprawled on the ground gasping with relief.

The wrestling Growlithe were thrown back all at once, suddenly and decisively. To Blue's amazement, the Trainer was rising into the air, edged in purple light. The Jolteon floated up after him in a similar way. Blue chanced a look at his Pokémon. Was Golduck doing it? He knew it was unlikely, since he had given no order. His Golduck looked just as stunned as he.

"What is going _on_?" he muttered. A noble Arcanine entered clearing at that moment. Blue and his Pokémon stared at him as he beheld his pack. The Growlithe had been pawing Red's shirt free until they could get at his chest. Three or four of them were lapping it vigorously with their tongues. Blue had no idea what was happening. Red either knew the Growlithe licking his sweaty hair from his forehead, or he was delirious as he mumbled, "Embers' Fire."

"You are safe. The human man will molest you no more," the Arcanine declared in a deep voice. Why could Blue understand him? Was it the psychic communication he had heard that Arcanine were capable of?

"Thank you," was his automatic response. His mind was blank. Was he really holding a conversation with a wild Pokémon?

"Did you travel with no one, human boy?" the Arcanine asked him. Seeing that Blue couldn't understand the question, he elaborated, "When you were in the form of a Pokémon, did you travel with no one?"

"Yes," Blue replied vaguely. "I was alone."

"Well, your friend was not. He took refuge with us while he was finding his paws." Blue nodded. That was how Red knew these Pokémon. The Arcanine held his head high. "I am Raging Fire."

"Blue Oak, of Pallet Town," reciprocated Blue in a low tone, his head down. The pack leader's next question surprised him.

"Are you the son of the one who studies Pokémon?"

Blue looked up. "Yes." So his grandfather was well known, even among Pokémon.

Raging Fire cocked his head. "Then you know many things about Pokémon?"

Blue nodded. His grandfather hadn't allowed any of his knowledge to remain unknown, but had passed it on to his grandson ever since Blue was old enough to talk. "Yes."

"Perhaps," the Arcanine mused, "you can help our friend." The Growlithe clustered around Red were obviously taking great care of him, but he needed a human to truly help him.

Blue's hand tightened into a fist. "Maybe I could . . . if I had my Pokémon with me. Or if I could get to my grandfather's lab." He let out a single bitter laugh. "Didn't anyone tell you that a Trainer without his Pokémon is nothing more than a kid?"

"Goool," his Golduck intoned. He turned to see that his Pokémon's eyes were glowing with psychic energy.

"Golduck? How long have you—?" His question was never finished. As the undergrowth rustled nearby, however, he realized he didn't need to. Charmeleon, Machamp, Porygon, Scyther, and Pidgeot filed out of the trees and lined up in front of him. Blue moved closer in wonderment, reaching out to touch them to ensure they weren't an illusion. They crowded around their Trainer, calling out his name in their Pokémon language. "You found each other?" he murmured. "You've been together?" It was beyond him how they could locate one another, while he had been unable to find any of them. Pokémon shamed their Trainers sometimes. Anyway, it didn't matter. As long as they were back.

"Your Pokémon have returned," Arcanine noted, his voice warm. "It is good." He cocked his head in question and asked for the second time, "Can you help your friend?"

His hands still resting on his Pokémon's heads, Blue looked toward where Red was lying. They had been through more together in this last month than most people went through in a lifetime. They had watched out for each other, fed each other, carried one another's burdens. Blue had never before spent so much time with the one whom before he had thought of only as a next-door neighbor. Arcanine didn't know anything: he just made assumptions after seeing them together. Could they really be comrades? Could Blue really call him friend now, instead of rival?

"Maybe," he muttered, wiping his upper lip with the back of his sleeve. He got up and went to Red's side, trailed by his loyal Pokémon.

* * *

It was through heavy lids that he saw the piercing light of the sun the next day. Having been up so late trying to care for Red, he had slept just as late. He was reluctant to rouse himself and wouldn't have moved, except for Red's howling shout.

"You can't have him!"

Blue sat up in a flash, now wide awake. His stomach plummeted and his heart raced. After everything they'd gone through— _now_ what? He sucked in a breath and took off running. Come Flamethrower or high water, he wasn't about to abandon his comrade now.

Growlithe were barking and growling. Blue followed the sounds until he came into a meadow where an Ivysaur stood. The pack had surrounded the Pokémon, surely for the purpose of hunting it. The doomed Ivysaur snarled at his aggressors, continually whirling to lash out with his Vine Whips at any of them who came too close. To Blue's consternation (but not really his surprise), Red was running heavy-footed right into the thick of the Embers and Fireblasts. Some of the attacks passed dangerously close by him, but the pack held their fire as soon as they saw it was Red. His intrusion brought a number of different reactions—some Growlithe barked in puzzlement, others growled at him as he passed. Still others wagged their tails as if cheering him on. Red threw himself down next to the hapless prey and clasped the Ivysaur to him. "Get away!"

It was obvious that none of the pack were pleased now. They circled Red, barking and snarling at him to move. Not even the Ivysaur appreciated Red butting in. He tried to pull himself free of the Pallet Town Trainer. His Vine Whips whipped around and connected with Red's ribs. But the Trainer just held the Pokémon more stubbornly.

"Will you give it a rest?" Blue called in exasperation. His rival was aggravatingly idyllic sometimes. "Growlithe have to eat, too!" Red couldn't rescue every Pokémon he happened across. Life, unfortunately, didn't work like that. But in spite of the Vines slapping him, the Growlithe growling at him, and Blue yelling at him, Red wasn't about to move. His next words showed why.

"It's _my_ Ivysaur!" Blue's mouth dropped open. The Puppy Pokémon stopped their collective outcry. The Ivysaur yanked itself away and used his Vine Whip to strike the boy who claimed to be his Trainer in the face. Red's head jerked to one side.

"Saur-saur _Ivy!"_ the Pokémon cried.

"I know," Red replied in a mumble.

Ivysaur's Vine Whip hit the boy in the head. "Ivy _ive!"_

"That's right, but you don't understand!" Red broke in earnestly. He raised his arm to shield his face as the attack came at him again. When the Vine Whips were inches from his face, he slashed them aside with his forearm and grabbed them with his hand. He wound them around and around his arm. Like a Magicarp on a fishing line, the Ivysaur was being pulled in against his will.

" _Saaaauuuur!_ " he raged.

"I saw you in the woods," Red said between his grunts of effort. "I _knew_ it was you. But I threw a rock at you so you'd run away."

Blue suddenly called to mind the incident during their captivity. Red had stood still just long enough to take a breather, and then he threw a stone. Now that Blue thought about it, he _had_ seemed to have his eye on something. So it wasn't just empty frustration: this was what had truly happened.

Ivysaur was digging in his heels. Red reeled him in, hand over shaking hand. "I know…you feel…abandoned," Red panted. "Rejected. Because…I promised to find you guys… and get you back. Then…when you saw me, you thought I broke that promise." He had pulled his Pokémon close enough that they were within arm's length of each other. Ivysaur glared up at his Trainer through narrow red eyes.

"Saur," he snorted.

"But I _didn't_ ," Red declared. Ivysaur looked away. "Listen to me," Red implored him. "I know it must have hurt you. You were looking for me a long time, huh?" He smiled and reached toward his Pokémon without bringing his hand too close. "Well, I was looking for you, too. Believe me, I looked everywhere! And then when I finally found you…" He sighed and stared at the ground. "It was too dangerous for you to come. I couldn't let you join me." Still Ivysaur wouldn't look at him. It was obvious that he had been deeply wounded by Red's perceived betrayal. And it seemed he could be even more stubborn than his Trainer was. "That's why I chased you away," finished Red quietly. "And you have no _idea_ how hard it was for me to do." He sighed wistfully. "I _missed_ you." Rebellious and still unconvinced, Ivysaur tightened the Vine Whips that were still entwined around Red's arm. He yanked on them to throw his Trainer to the ground. Now they were face to face. Red seemed to see past the hostile glower on Ivysaur's face. His chocolate-brown eyes lit up. "You grew up, Saur," he whispered. "You evolved while I was gone." With great tenderness, he stretched out his hand to caress his Pokémon's forehead. Neither Ivysaur nor anyone else in the vicinity could fail to be moved by the gesture. Red truly felt a deep love for his Pokémon. His eyes were soft with affection. "What else did I miss while you were away?"

The simple question, phrased as it was with such audible fondness, broke Ivysaur's resolve. He threw himself forward and pushed his head against Red's chest. The Trainer from Pallet Town laughed with joy and wrapped his arms around Ivysaur's bulb. "Ivysaur!" the Grass Pokémon howled.

"Ivysaur," Red repeated the name. His voice was full to the brim with satisfaction.

Blue shook his head as he walked over to them. He put his hands on his hips and sighed. Looking around at the congregated Growlithe, he observed, "It seems you'll have to find yourselves another meal this time." The pack dropped their tails in disappointment and loped away, noses already to the ground in search of a promising scent. A couple of them growled their complaints, but none of them were about to break up the long-awaited reunion of Trainer and Pokémon. Their compassion still outweighed their hunger.

* * *

That night, while they were bedding down amidst the heat of many canine bodies, Arcanine raised his majestic head and looked straight at the boys. Without moving his lips, he spoke to them in his Psychic way. He said what Blue had known he eventually would:

"You cannot stay." Red looked surprised to be refused further hospitality from the Pokémon on whom had already relied for these last two days—indeed, for many weeks before that. Blue nodded his head in consent. Red bowed his head with disappointment, though not in disagreement.

"You are strong, now," the pack leader noted. "You can fend for yourselves."

"With our Pokémon, we can find our way back to my grandfather's lab," said Blue. "From there, we'll figure out where to go."

The next morning, Red sat quietly with an overgrown pup on his lap, running his hand over and over the dog Pokémon's ears. A bigger Growlithe, apparently the mother, stood as though on guard, her tail beating rhythmically against Red's side. Arcanine came up and stood before them. Blue and Red got to their feet and waited for him to speak. Red still held the Growlithe puppy in his arms.

"Our pack cannot live with humans," the leader declared. His eyes rested on the two boys. "You will leave us today. You are not allowed to remain."

The puppy of Red's let out a yipping whine. Evidently Red could understand what the young animal meant, for he replied in a sigh, "I know. I'm sorry, Spark." He set the Growlithe down, and it put its front paws up against his knees.

"Press onward in your journey, young ones," Arcanine bade them.

"We have more to do, don't we?" Red asked softly. His open-ended question hung in the air. Blue didn't know what his friend meant by that. Arcanine, though, dipped his head in a nod. Red was staring into the Legendary Pokémon's wise eyes. "There's something we still need to do." His voice was still scratchy but in no way uncertain. Then he and Blue got to their feet as one man.

"Thank you, Arcanine," said Blue. "You gave us our freedom back." Arcanine nodded graciously. The picture of popularity, Red was surrounded by four-legged friends who hated to see him go. He reached out to each one of them to stroke noses and ruffle fur. They whined and licked his face good-bye. But there was only so long he could linger before they had to leave.

The two Trainers walked side by side, boots thumping on the ground. There was a sudden roar of sound behind them, and at their backs they could feel a rush of heat. By instinct, Blue reached for his Poké Balls. Red stayed his hand. "No," he murmured. Looking fondly back at the pack, he informed Blue, "That's how they say good-bye."

Oak's grandson turned to see columns of fire shooting up from the Growlithes' mouths.


	8. Weird Faith Is on My Side

**A/N: This chapter title is from the song "Makin' My Way (Any Way That I Can)" from the first** ** **Pokémon movie soundtrack. ("Ain't nothing to slow me down this time. This weird faith is on my side.")  
****

 **Chapter Eight**

Weird Faith Is on My Side

That night, Blue asked, "What did you mean before? What do we still have to do?" Red honestly wasn't sure how to answer his question. He could feel his rival staring at him, but the only reply that he could form was unsatisfactory at best.

"I don't know." He stared up at the star-struck sky in thought. He simply couldn't put his hunch into words. "I can just…feel it." He waited for Blue to deride his ephemeral idea or make a sarcastic remark. But Blue was inscrutable as always. He had gotten some sort of equipment out of his pack, and now he brought it over.

"Put this on." He held out an oxygen mask to Red, who was somewhat confused.

"A gas mask?" he guessed.

"An _oxygen_ mask," Blue corrected him. When Red didn't move right away to take it, he took it upon himself to slip it over Red's face and fasten it against the back of his head with a knot. "Haven't you ever used one before?"

"What's it for?"

In answer, Blue moved over to Ivysaur and slipped the other end into the barely-opened flower on the Pokémon's back. "Now, use Sweet Scent, Ivysaur." Red's Pokémon looked at Blue sharply, and Blue stared back down at him without blinking. To Red's indignant surprise, his Ivysaur actually obeyed the command that was nevertheless from a different Trainer.

"Srrrr..." he grunted. Yellow powder was produced by his budding flower and flowed into the rubber tubing.

"Hey—what're you...?" Red stammered. Reaching back to unfasten the mask, he found himself stopped by Blue, who grabbed his hand.

"It's a healing mechanism." Oak's grandson stared at him with keen golden eyes. "An analgesic, inhibitor of swelling. Best when inhaled in small doses." When Red still hesitated, Blue's eyes narrowed, then rolled upward. "It's in the Pokédex. Breathe it in, if you don't believe me."

Red wasn't about to take the word of his rival at face value, but he trusted his Pokémon without question. It was to Ivysaur he looked for confirmation. The red eyes met Red's with complete confidence. Red nodded once and immediately took the deepest breath he could. His eyes were shut tight as though he awaited something spectacular. But when nothing of the sort happened, he opened his eyes again and blinked, taken aback. Blue was shrugging his backpack onto his shoulders. "It's not an instant cure," he informed Red rather impatiently. "But it should help. At least until we make it back."

He didn't mention where they were heading back to. In truth, neither of the two boys knew exactly what they would find when they got there.

But they pressed on. Days turned into weeks. They couldn't travel overly fast due to Red's limitations. It was almost like a Trainer's journey again, except they didn't have the comforts they were used to. Not that a Trainer's life had ever been easy. Still, the canned food and sleeping bags were a thing of the past. They slept in clearings, caves, or old Pokémon lairs. Food was difficult to forage.

The boys didn't say much, for there was not much to say. Red remained hooked up to Ivysaur for an hour, off and on, throughout the day. But he still coughed up blood during the night. One thing was certain: they had to get home.

However, they received good news before they reached their destination. They weren't far from Pallet Town when Red stiffened. Before Blue could react, Red had ripped the mask off his head, thrown it down, and gone pelting off into the woods. Ivysaur and Blue shared a look of confusion; then human and Pokémon took off after their charge. Ivysaur galloped along, not nearly fast enough to make the grade. Blue's long legs normally would have permitted him to overtake his rival easily, but Red was running hard this time. Gasping, hissing his breath through his teeth in sheer irritation, Blue lengthened his stride. Tan boots pounded after black ones, and the taller boy started closing the gap.

Then Red stopped dead. Blue managed to avoid colliding with him by a small margin. Red's sides heaved; his face shone. What was making him act so crazy this time—the drug? Blue reached out without thought to steady his rival as the boy leaned over to catch his breath. "Poli!" he called—a ragged call laden with passion, with months of hope long denied. Blue's eyes searched for the object of his beckon. Their surroundings teemed with Pokémon—they always did nowadays—Ekans, Caterpie, Pidgeotto, Spearow, Rattata, and Mankey. But there was one among the crowd that blinded Red to all others. It was a Poliwrath, and he turned at his name as though he knew who was calling him. His eyes went very wide, and Red's eyes shimmered.

"Poli!" the Pokémon answered. They ran to each other at exactly the same moment, Trainer and Pokémon completely synchronized. Red threw his arms around his friend. The muscled Fighting Pokémon caught his Trainer up and swung him around, both of them laughing. Blue was stunned with admiration. Did the two have a psychic link? Except for his Golduck, Blue would never be able to tell from a distance if one of his Pokémon were in the vicinity! But Red had run to find Poliwrath, by all accounts utterly sure that he'd find his Pokémon here. And he had.

Yes, there was trouble to be found at every turn. The journey was long, and discouragement was easy to come by. But the boys had forgotten till now that they weren't alone this time—their Pokémon were by their side.

* * *

They reached the town of Pallet. Everything was as they had left it. Whereas they had expected their hearts to lift, they sank even lower. Scattered possessions, with no one to pick them up. More empty dwellings. And more Pokémon…always more Pokémon. Red supposed, in a wry way, that he should be happy. Wasn't a world such as this one every Trainer's dream? More Pokémon than he ever dreamed there could be in one place—especially in a city! He could capture hundreds— _thousands_ —if he so chose. There was only one Trainer on the planet to compete with him. Should he be happy? Red smiled at the sight of his beloved hometown. But his smile held nothing of happiness in it.

Blue led the way to the Oak Laboratory. Red admired the way he strode up to the house and went right in. Maybe empty houses didn't scare Blue—or maybe he hadn't yet had to face the reality that Red had already dealt with. He didn't follow his rival inside, choosing instead to remain in the front yard with his Pokémon. He rested his hand on Ivysaur's bulb, clutched Poliwrath's bulky arm. He wouldn't lose them again.

Blue came out of the house and paused on the threshold. A passerby might think him casual or even callous, as he stared into the distance without expression. But Red could read the tightness in his jaw. His hand, resting on the door frame, twitched just once. Oak's grandson sighed and trudged up the walkway toward them. "Did you really think you'd find him?" probed Red. Blue's amber eyes darkened for just a moment.

"No." He looked away, then pressed a bottle into Red's hand. "It's medicine from the lab. I'm no expert, but it should help." They shuffled up the streets, looking left and right, seeing the same sights over and over again. At last, they sat down on the bench near the Pokémon Center and said nothing as the sun went down.

"I love this place," Red said at length. "Me an' Poli would play hide-and-seek over by the fountain. And Poli could hide under the water forever, it seemed like. The nurses in the Pokémon Center used to yell at us when they found us out after dark." He stared up at the stars. "This is a place of beginnings. Everything starts here, doesn't it?" Blue, his chin on his folded hands, was silent. Red leaned toward him and declared, "We have to save it…you know that."

"And what do you suggest?" Blue retorted. He turned to look at Red for the first time in hours. "We're two kids. We're the only two humans left. And you need medical attention."

"There must be something we can do!" insisted Red.

Blue surged to his feet. "Like _what?_ We don't know what caused this. We don't know who did it—or if it was an accident! No one can help us! Not police, detectives, the media, nothing! We have no idea where to start. What can we do if we have no _help?_ "

Red met his eyes with a steady gaze. "We have our Pokémon," he replied simply. Opening his mouth to say more, Blue found himself atypically at a loss. Red's words had refuted him. That's right. They weren't kids: they were Trainers. Pokémon were all they needed, right? Red seemed to think so. There obviously wasn't a doubt in his mind that with Pokémon, they could win without a second thought. Because with Pokémon, they had power within their hands to accomplish amazing things.

Yet without Pokémon, they were helpless. Blue read the subtext in Red's statement. And that night, he took something out of his backpack to prove his friend wrong.


	9. It's Our Destiny

**A/N: This chapter title is from the eleventh season theme song "We Will Be Heroes." ("Brave and strong together we will be. It's our destiny...")**

 **Chapter Nine**

It's Our Destiny

Sitting against a tree with his recently-emptied soup bowl in his hands, Red was taken fully by surprise as Blue rushed him after dinner. He was carrying something like a lance. It didn't take Red long to decipher that it was a sword—a wooden one. He found it out pretty quickly after the first five blows. Shoulders stinging, he rolled away clumsily. The flat of the blade pursued him, hammering down against his ribs. He held up his hands to ward the attack off and hollered, "Knock it off! What're you doing?!"

Blue stood before him and brandished the point of his sword. "We're not helpless," he averred before shoving his weapon into his belt.

Red clutched his smarting forearm and stared up, rather clueless, at his rival. "What?"

"Our Pokémon aren't the only things we have to rely on," Blue informed him. "Are they our tools, to be used by us however we see fit—while we stand back on the sidelines?" Red ground his teeth together at the mere mention of something so heartless. Blue stared back. "Pokémon aren't our weapons. They're our partners in battle. And that means they're not the only ones who fight." He drew his sword and leaned the blade against his shoulder. "You really want to save the world? Then train _yourself_ before you leave."

Red pushed himself to his booted feet. He balled his fists. What his fighting stance lacked in finesse, it made up for in sheer determination. "Teach me everything you know," he said flatly. Blue gave him no more time to prepare, but raced forward again. The Pokémon watched their Trainers trade blows. Blue and his sword were samurai-like. In his black jumpsuit, Red looked not unlike a ninja.

* * *

One week. That was all the time Red would allow them to take before taking their leave. His plan was reasonable: both boys agreed that they didn't have a lot of time to waste. It didn't leave him much time to learn the ropes, though.

For the third time that morning, Blue drove Red back. The shorter Trainer held a long stick that had served him well as a makeshift weapon these last few days. At first, he had been incredibly clumsy with it. Now he could use it just well enough to defend himself. Attacking was not his strong point. Blue was still holding back, yet he was still besting Red at every turn. Now he held his rival down and held the bokken's point to Red's nose. So doing, he got up again and—again—waited for Red to rush him. They did the same thing over and over. It had been six days already. Red always lost, and he had no reason to believe that this time would be any different.

Blue took a steadying breath and locked his stance. "Snap _out_ of it, already!" he barked. "You're _weak!_ " As if to prove his words, Red flinched at them. "Ever since you got free from him, it's like you've been asleep!" He leaped at his comrade and grabbed the ragged edge of Red's collar. "Don't you understand, he _wanted_ to break you? He knew there was something great inside you." He stepped away with one foot and leaned his weight on his front leg. Both hands now held the handle of his weapon. He was the picture of a deadly, calm warrior. "Wake _up!_ " he admonished his trainee as his master had once admonished him. "Don't hold back."

As Blue spoke, Red's eyes had started to smolder. Then he dashed forward with such speed that Blue was actually taken by surprise. Red brought his singlestick against Blue's bokken, hitting it hard enough to knock it out of Blue's grasp. Then Red jammed his elbow into Blue's ribs and threw his trainer flat. Their panting faces were inches apart.

"How was that?" asked Red. His face was scored and smudged. Blue stared into the dark eyes he had come to know well. The light was back in them.

* * *

Late that night, when Blue was literally too tired to stand up any longer, they called it a night. Red had never complained at the harsh training regimen, nor had he any inclination to do so. They had little time. Stopping only for the sake of sleeping was fine with him.

"You know…" he murmured in the darkness. "It was you he really wanted to break." He could see from Blue's silhouette—dark against the night sky—that his friend had turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Blue asked.

"Our names were mixed up," Red reminded him softly. "He thought I was Blue, didn't he? That's why he treated me worse. Not because he was afraid of _me_." He was glad his rival couldn't see the admiration on his face. "He was afraid of _you_."

"No," Blue contradicted him. His voice was barely audible. "He was afraid…of what he saw in your eyes."

It wasn't the first time the boys had disagreed with each other, but it was definitely a first for them to be paying one another any compliments. They spoke no further on the matter, that night or ever.

* * *

Red slept hard and woke refreshed. As the day dawned, he lay on his side, elbow bent, resting his head on his hand. From this position, he had a clear view of Blue as the young Trainer opened his sack and slowly, reverently, pulled out a heavy metal object. Red let out a cry of awe. It was a sword—a _real_ one. The steel gleamed in the strengthening light, and even from several feet away Red could discern the sharp edge. "Where did you get _that_?" he squawked.

"I didn't just go into my grandpa's lab to look around," was Blue's answer. He raised the blade and stepped through the various stances. His expertise in the forms was obvious. Red could see that he had spent years learning the craft. He continued the katas for the better part of the morning. He never failed to hold his weapon with the greatest respect. When he had finished training himself, he slid it back into its sheath and returned it to his backpack with the greatest care. Almost as though he could read Red's thoughts, he remarked quietly while sinking down next to him, "You can't master a weapon in a week, or a month." He seemed to be reminding his protégé about the reason they had been training in the first place. The end goal of their skirmishes wasn't to make the younger Trainer into a master swordsman. It never had been. Red unfastened his characteristic scarlet bandana from its position above his knee.

"Well…" he began slowly. Blue watched, puzzled, as stones fell out of the scarf. They were small, each one small enough to hide in one hand. They wouldn't have added up to much extra weight. Still, Red had gone to some trouble to conceal them all this time. Blue hadn't had any idea that they were there. He didn't have long to wonder why. Red took one of his rocks and placed it into his kerchief. After a couple of swings around his head, he let one end go to send the stone flying off in the other direction. Blue watched amazed as it shot straight at the knot of a large maple and hit it dead center. He didn't have to ask if it was what Red had been aiming for. Now Red casually tied the stones back against his leg with the scarf-sling. "…I'm a pretty good shot," he commented as a matter of fact.

So neither of them was going into battle empty-handed.

* * *

The two boys shared a rare respite side by side. Not doing anything, they sat staring at the clouds. Then Blue spoke up. "How did you do that before?" Red turned to look at him, waiting for him to finish. "How did you find Poliwrath? I mean…" He set his jaw and wouldn't look his rival in the eyes. "How did you know he was there?"

"I heard him." Red seemed to anticipate the skeptical look Blue was giving him, for he nodded in understanding of it. "I know. It sounds crazy. But I like listening to the Pidgey's wings, the little poke of Caterpies crawling, the scuffs of a Rattata. I can recognize what they sound like. And even in a crowd, I'd know Poli's feet anywhere." The aforementioned Pokémon grinned gaily and flexed one arm. Red chuckled and ran his hand over Poliwrath's skin. "There's no technique or anything. I just spend a lot of time with them." He rubbed one arm then as though cold. His eyes lit with intensity, and he quickly got up. "That's how I know Pika's here."

Blue couldn't stop his mouth from opening in shock. "How—?"

"Because." Red held up his forearm and ran a finger gingerly over the skin. "My hair is standing on end." He grinned from ear to ear, already scanning the surrounding forest. "Feel that? It's electricity in the air. And there's not a cloud in the sky." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted eagerly, "Pika?"

Lightning zapped out of the bushes and hit Red. "Pi _ka!_ " came the echo to his call. Pikachu bounded out of hiding and stood and tensed himself for another attack. His eyes sparked with anger. Red stumbled back as electricity made contact with him again.

"Is that all the welcome I get?" Red grunted, massaging his chest. His reply seemed to make his Pokémon partner angrier than ever.

"Pika- _pika_ pika!" he exploded. " _Chu_! Chuchu pikaaaa…" He shot a Thunder Wave as he ranted on and on. "Piiiika, chu-pika pik!"

"I know," Red answered in a pained voice from the ground, where he had fallen from the attack. "It took too long. You didn't think I'd come."

"Pika-pika- _pika_! _Piii!_ " screeched the irate Electric Pokémon. Red swayed to his feet again, mouth tight. Then he held open his arms and grinned.

"C'mere, Pikachu." The little Rodent type was only too happy to obey. He raced forward in a flash and catapulted himself into Red's waiting embrace.

"Pikaa…pikaa…" His voice was sounding less threatening by the moment. Red laughed jubilantly.


	10. Let's Do It

**A/N: This chapter title is from the fourth season theme song "Born To Be a Winner." ("** ** **Pokémon,**** **Pokémon,** **Pokémon. Let's do it...")  
**

 **Chapter Ten**

Let's Do It

The old Red was back now. Pika, with an endearing measure of selflessness, had kept Red's pack with him, dragging it everywhere as he searched for his lost Trainer, just waiting to give it back to him. It was remarkable how the addition of a baseball cap and red vest seemed to reset the Trainer's personality. The last vestiges of fear and hesitation were gone from his face. Then he and Blue looked at one another and nodded once. Although the reunion with his Pokémon (not to mention his clothes) had been joyful, they had no more time to reflect, ponder, or speculate. The time to act was upon them.

"We need to find…a man," explained Red to his Pokémon. "He's got black hair, and he wears black clothes, too. There's a Jolteon with him."

" _Any_ human would suffice," Blue pointed out. "In this world, the one who holds the power of transformation will likely be human. That'll be the one we're looking for." He pointed with his index finger. "Now, go!" he bade his Pokémon. "Look for anything out of the ordinary!" Red threw a Poké Ball into the air to release his Aerodactyl, and another into the water to release Gyrados. Golduck joined the Atrocious Pokémon in the river and skimmed away using Surf. Poliwrath went upstream the opposite way, swimming strongly. Scyther buzzed into the air, joined by Pidgeot. The land Pokémon spread out in different directions. Red waved to Charmeleon, Machamp, Porygon, Pikachu, Ivysaur, and Snorlax as they dispersed.

"We'll meet you along Route 1!" Red shouted.

Blue raised his eyebrow. " 'We'?" he repeated.

"Yeah. You and I are going back to the place where I was first transformed," Red said to him.

"What makes you so sure you know where to start?" Blue challenged his choice.

Red's eyes were distant, and he shrugged one shoulder. "I don't. It's just a feeling." He half expected Blue to simply walk off in the other direction, as his friend stared at him for a long moment. Then Blue nodded in agreement.

"All right. Let's go." So they made their way back to the place where, for Red, it had all begun. He couldn't help being tense. "Place bring back fond memories?" Blue asked wryly as Red jumped at a gust of wind.

"Yeah," he answered with a rather nervous chuckle. They paced back and forth, looking aimlessly, not knowing at all what they were looking for. And they didn't find anything.

Then Blue stiffened; his eyes went out of focus. "Golduck is contacting me," he murmured for Red's benefit. He shut his eyes and stood without speaking, without moving, for what seemed a long time. Finally, he released his bated breath and returned to his senses. "There's a cave," he announced. "Not too far from here, on the outskirts of Pallet. Our Pokémon are waiting for us there."

"Lead the way!" Red urged him. The two of them took off running. Blue knew exactly where to go, thanks to the psychic bond he shared with his Pokémon. He led Red to a meandering bluff in the forest where both of them had played as children at one time or another. At the base of the cliff was a cave that neither boy had ever noticed before. Twelve Pokémon greeted their Trainers with twelve different calls. "Great going, team!" Red congratulated them. Blue put a hand to the face of the escarpment as though testing whether it were real. He glanced in all directions for any danger. When he was certain that nothing was on the verge of attacking them, he turned to his Pokémon.

"This is the source?" he asked them for confirmation. The six of them nodded at once. "Well done," said Blue. He held them with his gaze. "We're going in now. What waits for us, we don't know. Stay alert." Again, the six nodded. "And," added Blue more quietly, "if anything should happen to me, your allegiance is to Red. Understand? Your loyalty will lie with him." Blue's partners shuffled uneasily but nonetheless nodded.

"Blue?" Red asked his friend in a small voice. Professor Oak's grandson wore an unreadable expression.

"Put your inhalator back on," was all he would say. The sprint to the crag had left Red breathing raggedly, suppressing coughs that were painful. He scowled but obeyed, taking the mask off Ivysaur's back and attaching it to his face. He and Blue returned all their other partners to their Balls. Warily, they edged into the cave that the Pokémon had seemed to find so promising.

At first, it seemed like a natural rock formation. But as they progressed into the interior, it was obvious that the cave had been chiseled, blasted, altered by humans to make it extend farther into the earth. And deeper the Trainers went, until they couldn't see each other for the darkness. Red detached himself from the breathing mask, returned his Grass Pokémon, and reached for a Poké Ball on his hip.

"I'll get Pika to—" he started to explain. But he was cut off by a sudden light. A Jolteon, sparking and lighting up their surroundings, appeared. "Jolteon?" blurted Red. Both of them scrambled to pull out their Pokédexes. The two glowing screens displayed the disconcerting, yet somehow expected phrase: _Previously encountered_.

"What…" muttered Blue, perplexed. However, the Jolteon left them no time to wonder. It took off through the tunnel. Without a second thought, the boys raced after the fading light.

"Maybe it's…a new kind of Pokémon," heaved Red. Even now, here, his voice was avid at that prospect.

"Don't you recognize it?" Blue growled. "That's the same Jolteon from before."

"Of course I recognize it," grunted Red. "How could I ever forget?" They sped up to catch their ex-tormentor's partner. The Jolteon stopped on a dime and turned on its heels to face them. It had stopped at the feet of a Trainer in black. The light from its quills illumined the sneering face of the man who had caused the Pallet Trainers so much tribulation. They stopped cold at the sight of him. Their hands flew to their Poké Balls. In seconds Scyther and Ivysaur appeared on the scene, and the three Trainers faced off.

"How touching. You remember me." The jeering voice was familiar, but not in the way Red had expected it to be. The face before him and the voice in his ears were both recognizable to him. It was just that they didn't belong together—they were from two separate people. He cocked his head as he strove to recall. But the situation was about to become even more confusing.

Sabrina, the Gym Leader from Saffron City, emerged from the shadows. Her eyes were glowing with psychic power. "Drop the illusion," she intoned. The air around Trainer and Jolteon seemed to shimmer. Then they were no more. Where the Trainer had been standing, there was a Kadabra. And next to Jolteon stood a man of whom Red had recently run afoul on the St. Anne.

"Surge!" he burst out. The ex-GI looked immensely satisfied with himself.

"They're here," he announced. "Just like I said they'd be."

"It seems your predictions were right," a new, calmer voice spoke up. The ninja-like Gym Leader of Fuchsia City dropped from above and landed like a Persian.

"Koga?" said Blue. It was like an elaborate inside joke: all the Gym Leaders seemed to know exactly what was going on, while the Pokémon Trainers were clueless. Out of nowhere, Surge threw himself at Red and caught and held him in a head-lock. Red choked and gasped for breath.

"Get…off…" he gagged. His hands flailed against Surge, but they hardly seemed to bother the Gym Leader. He casually blocked Red's hand as the Pallet Trainer aimed an awkward punch at his side.

"Let him go!" barked Blue. He leveled his pointed finger at Surge's head. "My Scyther's Air Slash can slice the wings off a Beedrill from a thousand meters. Unless you want to know what that feels like, release him _now_."

"Ivy…" croaked Red. Surge made no move to free him. Saur and Scyther attacked in the same breath. A Razor Leaf and a razor of air crossed paths and hit the Electric Trainer in both shoulders. He was thrown several feet from the blow. Saur raced over to Red as the boy caught his breath. Far from being injured, Surge was laughing as he got up. Two Magnemite, perched on his shoulders, had shielded him being sliced open.

"What did I tell you?" he crowed to his comrades. "Just look at these two!"

"Do you think attacking us is some kind of _joke_?" snarled Blue. He produced another Poké Ball, from which Charmeleon emerged.

"You don't wanna pick a fight with us, kid," Surge warned them. In answer, Red threw one of his Balls low to the ground. Snorlax burst out, and the battle was on.

Charmeleon's flames, blinding in the enclosed space, billowed toward Sabrina. She barely had to look at her Pokémon before Kadabra's wall shot up to protect them both. Ivysaur's vines whipped toward Koga's Arbok, who slithered around them time and again. Meanwhile, his Rhydon had pitted himself against Red's Snorlax. They pushed against each other mightily, neither one gaining ground. Magnemite and Magneton flew around the airborne Scyther, attacking him like a swarm of Beedrill.

Blue and Red were among the most talented Trainers around, but even they couldn't stand up against the Elite Triad. Before long, they and their Pokémon were backed against a wall.

"We're not going to be part of your game," vowed Blue as Red wiped a smear of blood from his lip.

"You're not just a part of this game," Surge told him. "You two are the central players."

"What do you mean?" Red demanded to know. "Why did you lure us here?"

"Didn't have to lure you here," replied Surge smugly. "We knew you'd come."

"What are you doing here?" Red went on. "Where did that Trainer dressed in black go? Who was he?"

"He never existed," Sabrina informed them. "He was just an illusion."

"An _illusion_?!" both boys exclaimed. There was no way all their suffering at his hands had been nothing but an illusion.

"An illusion," she repeated. "A mirage." When she saw the stupefied looks the Pallet Trainers were giving her, she tossed her hair as though she couldn't believe their thick-headedness. "Psychic-type Pokémon bonded with their Trainers take the form of any human they meet. They can even create their own persona of sorts. However, this fabricated personality has limits. It must be based upon a Pokémon's previous acquaintances. This 'Trainer dressed in black,' as you call him, was a compilation of the three of us. He was fabricated based upon our personalities, strengths, and appearance. Through suppressing his own personality, Kadabra 'became' him, if you will. He was a complete person, completely real. And a complete fake."

Blue's mind raced. "Then the Stun Stem—?"

"From my personal stores," confirmed Koga.

"And the Jolteon?" Red added.

"Mine," Surge answered.

"Then all this time, the man who captured us was just a _Kadabra_ , disguised as a human?" Red asked.

"Not disguised as," Sabrina corrected him sharply. "Transformed into."

"Armed with our knowledge, and ordered to find you two," explained Surge.

"Find…and break," Koga finished.

The two of them stared at the three Leaders. "I don't understand," Red broke the silence finally.

"See, we were hired," Surge said to them, "by the one behind all this. The crystals, the Transformation, everything. It was all his doing."

"He wanted no one to stand in his way," Sabrina continued. "And he knew the only ones who stood a chance of doing that were you two."

"Why us?" Blue asked. Koga folded his arms.

"Have you ever heard the old tale of the Changed World?" he asked them. "Surely you know it. It's a very popular bedtime story.

"Yeah…" Red murmured. "Someone took over, changed the world. He ruled everything, and nobody could stop him."

"Until he was defeated by Vermillion and Cerulean," Koga recalled the old story's end. He stared with intensity at the boys. "Vermillion, and Cerulean."

"So rally the two towns, then," suggested Red, on whom Koga's connotation was lost. He pointed at Lt. Surge. "Get him and Misty to fight."

"No," whispered Blue. "They weren't towns." He looked at Red with wide eyes. "Don't you remember? They were the names of Trainers. Vermillion and Cerulean, who later founded the towns named after them."

"What?" Red's mouth fell open. He turned back to the Gym Leaders. "But…but how can you be sure?"

"Two Trainers with a nose for battle and the best instinct this region has ever seen?" Surge observed dryly. "Yeah, we're pretty sure." He grinned at them as though admiring his prize.

"Why did you take the time to battle us, then?" Blue asked in a low voice. "Why tell us all this? You're just planning to get rid of us here."

"That's what we wanted you to think," said Sabrina with a smirk. "It's what we needed _him_ to think—that we were following his orders to the letter."

"But you _did!_ " Red exclaimed, angry. "Hunting us, finding us, torturing us…you're doing everything he said! And you expect us to believe you're not really in cahoots with him?! That you're some sort of double agents?"

"Exactly," Sabrina replied.

"Because if we had truly wanted to kill you, you would have been dead the moment you stepped into this cave," Koga informed them. Blue and Red shared a glance with one another, appraising the situation. The most bizarre thing about the insane argument was that it was starting to convince them.

"Then why torment us for weeks?" demanded Blue.

"To make it convincing," Sabrina answered rather dismissively.

"And to prove it to ourselves," Koga elaborated. "If you were everything we thought you were, then you couldn't be broken even under torture. And if you were everything we needed you to be, then you'd find some way to escape…come here…and do battle with the new master of this world."

"You have to be tougher than nails to beat this guy," declared Surge. "And you two are all that, and more." In a strange way, he sounded almost proud. "So, what do you say, boys?" He brought his hands together. "Ready to fight?"

The two Pallet Town Trainers met each other's gaze. They had grown adept at exchanging conversation with their eyes alone. Fight? With their enemies? Side by side with those who were responsible for Red's pain, and had nearly killed them both?

But did they have a choice? Given the options, wasn't it a vastly smarter move to ally themselves with the Elite Triad than to fight without them—or worse, against them?

However, if they fought at the Gym Leaders' side, they would be playing right into their plan. They would be doing exactly as the Elite Triad wanted them to do. Exactly what had been _planned_ for them to do.

They came to a mutual, wordless decision. "We'll fight with you," Blue said brusquely.

"But not as your errand boys," spoke up Red. "Or your pawns. Or your tools."

"Of course not!" Surge boomed. He pointed a thumb at the three of them and grinned. "You boys are our ace in the hole."


	11. World We Must Defend

**A/N: This chapter title is from the first season theme song "** ** **Pokémon Theme." ("Oh, you're my best friend in a world we must defend.")  
****

 **Chapter Eleven**

World We Must Defend

"Here." Koga surprised them all with his tone of voice. It was almost gentle. He approached Red holding a long section of cloth in which sat a dusting of fine powder. In the same way their former tormentor had done, he moved to press it over Red's mouth. Red blenched in alarm and stumbled back on instinct. "It's medicine," Koga explained to him evenly. "An inhalant used to sooth lungs damaged by smoke or heat. It's a mixture I've concocted after many attempts. You've already been using Sweet Scent to counteract the effects of your burns. This will be much more helpful." He grasped Red's shoulder in a strong grip as the Trainer again made to shy away. "I'm an herbal expert," he said softly. "I swear to you, it will not hurt you." The word of a ninja had not necessarily been proven trustworthy in the annals of history. Certainly Red had no reason to believe that Koga's word was fit to be trusted. Yet for reasons he couldn't even explain to himself, he found himself believing the Fuchsia Gym Leader. When Koga pressed the mask of fabric to his face, he didn't resist. As he drew in a hesitant breath, he felt the soothing effect as the drug entered his airway. He relaxed and began breathing faster, more greedily. "Don't hyperventilate," Koga warned him. "Slowly and steadily." They remained in the same position for many minutes. Sabrina filed her nails and Surge waited impatiently, boot tapping the floor.

At last, Koga removed the cloth, rolled it back up, and stowed it back inside his shinobi shozoko. Red wiped the traces of the herb from his face. "Thanks," he mumbled. Koga inclined his head, and Surge stepped to the fore.

"Right," he called, punching his fist into his opposite hand. "Let's move out!" The Gym Leaders began to run, leading the Pokémon Trainers through the tunnels. It was a twisting route with many turns, one the boys would never have been able to find their way through on their own. At one point, Surge dropped back to drive Red back towards the center of the tunnel with a well-placed cuff to the shoulder. "Stay away from the walls. That's where the crystals are being mined." It was true: the tunnel was lined with raw angles of crystal that had been cut, harvested, and taken away. And now they were coming up on a drop-off. "All right, kids!" Surge yelled. "Ready to fly?"

He threw down a Ball that engulfed him in smoke. Once he emerged, he was sprawled on top of an Electrode. Sabrina was already floating, both she and her Kadabra surrounded in light. Koga held a Poké Ball high above his head and pressed the release button. Where the Ball had been, a Golbat took its place, gripping his Trainer's hand and fluttering as hard as he could. Red and Blue, running side by side, took their own Poké Balls in hand. They held them out to their sides and released them as they leaped over the edge. The famed Trainers from Pallet Town were in fearless free fall as their Pokémon took shape. Then Aerodactyl snatched Red out of the air, Pidgeot swooped under Blue to catch him, and the five humans were airborne. Feathered and membranous wings beat the air, joined with the hum of psychic and electric energy. They were getting close to their destination.

When they had reached the other side safely and recalled their Pokémon, Surge spoke again. "All right—we're almost there. Now, we need to enter incognito, so…" He grabbed Red and pinned his arms behind his back. Koga held Blue in a similar way. "It should look like this," Surge concluded, not without a note of ridicule in his voice.

"And what's the purpose of treating us as prisoners?" growled Blue.

"Because for all intents and purposes, that's exactly what you _are_ ," Sabrina pointed out with what she obviously thought was great patience.

"Our employer still doesn't know of our turncoat status," Koga reminded them both. "He knew you were in the vicinity of Pallet, and was expecting us to bring you in alive but subdued."

Surge grinned like a wolf. "So that's just what we're gonna do."

* * *

At the end of the last rock tunnel was a lit opening. Through this makeshift door, the captors marched their prisoners. Psychic, Electric, and Poison-type Pokémon swarmed around the Trainers: Drowzee, Kadabra, Alakazam, Mr. Mime, Electabuzz, Magneton, Magnemite, Voltorb, Electrode, Gastly, Golbat, Rhydon, and Arbok. The Gym Leaders had released every Pokémon in their store.

The cavern they entered was high-ceilinged and spacious. The walls had the roughness of mere rock. This area wasn't being mined. Rather, it had the appearance of a room being used as the base of operations. At the far end of the cave stood a red-haired Trainer in a cape, shouting instructions. It was the Dragon master of the Kanto Elite Four.

"Lance!" Lt. Surge shouted his name to be heard over the hubbub. The redhead turned and widened his eyes at the sight of them. "We brought the Trainers you asked for," Surge announced. The group stopped in front of Lance.

"Blue and Red, from the town of Pallet," he muttered to himself. "Where are their Pokémon?"

"We got 'em," Surge reassured him, showing him how his and Koga's belts were overloaded with extra Poké Balls.

Lance sized them up through narrow eyes. Then, "Tie them up, hand and foot!" he barked. "I want them _on the ground_." Koga and Surge were quick to obey. They used rope from Koga's pack to bind the boys' wrists behind them, and their ankles together. Once they were rendered harmless, he regarded them again, his eyes agleam. "Does it meet with your approval?" he wondered aloud. "The crystals I've discovered? The way I've extracted them carefully, amassed them? Flooded the Earth with their radiation?" He laughed to himself. "They work similarly to Evolution Stones, you understand. Except that these are the only stones that have no noted effect on Pokémon. Only on humans. And a world freed of _them_ is truly…free." He raised his eyes to stare beyond the stalactites. "It wouldn't have been possible without Surge's electric power to set off the crystal bomb, or Sabrina's Pokémon to project the explosion. You see, there are those who believe in my cause—those who stand with me." He grimaced at them as though they were vermin. "And there are those who would stand in my way. They must be stopped." He raised his voice. "Dragon Clan! Come, see who we've captured." Blue and Red turned their heads awkwardly from where they lay. Filing up and surrounding them were scores of Trainers who all seemed to resemble Lance to a lesser or greater degree. They ranged from adolescent to aged. One elder looked as though he could barely stand on his own two feet, while the youngest hothead couldn't be more than thirteen. The Blackthorn City Gym Leader was among them. "Your enemies lie before you," Lance stated. "They are at your mercy now." He leveled a Poké Ball on the two Pallet boys. "These are the only two who had a chance of standing against us. But they will never interfere with us again."

Surge kicked the boys with his boot so that their faces were to the ground. "Before you wipe these two off the map, I wanted to let you in on a little secret," he said. Pointing his finger at his Electabuzz, he snapped his fingers. The Pokémon powerhouse hefted his fist and punched the ground. Cracks sizzling with electricity spread outward through the rock, throwing the Clan members back. Koga threw two shuriken-edged Poké Balls from each hand. They whizzed over the recumbent boys and cut the knots typing them without grazing their skin. "We're not your lackeys anymore!" roared Surge. The air around him boomed with electricity and hummed with magnetism.

"In fact, we never were," added Sabrina. Her eyes went white as she and her Pokémon unleashed multiple psychic attacks. Koga's Pokémon joined in so that the three of them could attack at long range. Psywave, Thunderbolt, Gastly's Night Shade, and Golbat's Confuse Ray wreaked havoc on both their opponents and their surroundings. The cave shook with power, and the screams of the Clan were rampant.

Lance emerged from the smoke. His eyes burned with a dangerous light. "Do you think you can defeat the _Dragon Masters?!_ " he screamed. Pokémon suddenly blossomed from around him as his family regained their feet. Hundreds of Dragon-type Pokémon filled the air and covered the ground. Horsea, Seadra, Kingdra, Dratini, Dragonair, Gyrados, and Charizard were everywhere. A single Tyranitar and Dragonite flanked Lance on either side. " _Then you're sadly mistaken!_ "

Koga returned Blue's Pokémon to him, and Oak's grandson instantly let them out of their Balls. Surge threw Red's Poké Balls at their owner's feet to release his six Pokémon. "Let's show 'em the grit of Vermillion," he said with a grin. And the fight for the world began.

Both Red and Lance rode their Aerodactyl to meet one another above the battlefield. Their flames roared against one another. Surge, covered in droves of Voltorb, surrounded himself in a magnetic force field. Sabrina ensconced herself in a box of Psychic Reflection. Together they launched Psychic and Lightning attacks from behind their shields while incapable of being harmed themselves. Blue and Clair were going at it with their Kingdra and Scyther. Amazingly, the Pallet Town Trainer was holding his own against the Leader of Blackthorn Gym. The air around Koga was heavy with Gastly's Haze. From the smoke, he launched both throwing stars and Pokémon attacks. The screams of Trainers, shouted commands, and dangerous rumble of rock deafened all present. And over everything was the incessant beating of wings and the roar of the Dragon Pokémon.

It was the longest Pokémon battle they had ever been in. Bit by bit, both sides wore down one another's defenses. Humans took hits, and Pokémon took damage. Exhaustion started to show. Trainer and Pokémon would keep getting up again, but each time was more of a struggle. The Elite Triad lived up to their reputation. And the so-called Cerulean and Vermillion showed that they were everything the legend rumored them to be. The five of them were battling with nerve and brilliance alone. But on the Dragons' side was the advantage of numbers. That was how they held their own during the prolonged fight—and started to turn the tide in their favor.

With the casual way she tossed out her Poké Ball, Clair gave no inclination that she was in fact releasing her secret weapon. In the same moment it emerged from its Ball, her Dragonair blew up the ground with a monstrous Hyper Beam. Before Blue could react, he, his Scyther, and his Charmeleon were thrown through the air. Scyther managed to buzz his wings enough to twist around and land on his feet. But Charmeleon and Blue weren't so lucky. Their bodies crashed to the rock. Blue's entire body arched with the pain that would cause others to pass into unconsciousness. Gasping at the intensity of it, he returned Charmeleon and rolled the Poké Ball toward Scyther. "Go with Red," he hissed through gritted teeth. Having accomplished his objective, he blacked out.

" _Blue!_ " came Red's stricken voice from above, where he had seen his friend fall. His mistake in letting his attention stray from the battle was quickly exploited. Lance sent a searing Fireblast at him. Aerodactyl turned in midair to avoid it, but the blast grazed his wing. He screamed and began to fall, despite his struggles to stay aloft. "Aero!" Red cried. They went into a spiraling plummet.

"Heads up!" shouted Surge. His Magneton flew to do his bidding. Suddenly Red found himself and his Pokémon saved from a fatal fall by the same Pokémon who had caged him on a cruise ship not long ago. He turned and held out his Poké Ball.

"Rrrr—Aero, return!" The injured Pokémon disappeared, and just as suddenly, Surge reached through the magnetic barrier to take Red by the wrist.

"Look out, kid!" He yanked Red with him behind a gigantic stalagmite in the nick of time. Lance's four Dragonair showered devastating Dragon Rage down upon the entire field. Sizzles of energy and explosions deafened everyone through the screaming. A flying bit of rock hit Lt. Surge in the leg. " _Gaaaah!_ " the Gym Leader groaned somewhere between fury and pain.

"Surge?" Red shook the man's shoulder to make sure he was still conscious, then dared to stick his head up and survey the damage. Blue lay where he had fallen. Koga was running to help him, but Red didn't see any Pokémon with him. Had the Fuchsia Gym Leader been defeated? Sabrina was squared off by her Mr. Mime, Kadabra, Drowzee, and Alakazam. In the center of the quartet she stood, her spoons brandished, her eyes aglow, and her hair standing out around her. She was the last battler standing.

Red struggled to quell the fear inside him. What if they didn't win? Would this be their world forever? And if they lost? Would he and Blue be killed in the aftermath? He was clenching his fists so hard his hands shook. Everything depended on this, here, now. They _had_ to win.

"STOP!" he exclaimed as loudly as he could. His voice carried over the noise of battle. Lance looked down from the storm. Red had his attention. "Don't you understand?" Red called up to him. "You can't do this!"

"I already have," Lance pointed out the obvious.

"But you can't go through with it!" Red spread his arms. "This…this can't be our world!"

" _It already is!_ " Lance thundered.

"But you _can't keep_ it this way!" The sincere anguish in Red's voice appeared to drive the Elite Four member dangerously closer to his own sort of Dragon Rage. Perhaps his mind was already one with his Pokémon, or theirs were aligned with his.

"And _why not?!_ " he screamed. "Tell me that, young Trainer! Because you _disapprove_? Because you want to be the Master over your subservient Pokémon? Where is your _status_ when you're not in human form? Where is your mastery? Where is your _lordship_?"

"It's not _like_ that—" Red tried to explain, but Lance didn't let him finish.

" _Tell me what it IS like, then!_ "

"They're not our tools!" Red bellowed back. "They're not our weapons, to be used by us however we see fit! We don't stand back on the sidelines. They're our partners! We battle _together!_ "

As he and Lance contended in their war with words, suddenly the cavern began to flood with new occupants. And they were _human_.

Rocketeers.

Giovanni was leading the charge, and the cavalry had come.

Neither Red nor Lance even noticed. Their attention was completely engrossed in one another. This left the back-up forces free to battle their way in with powerful Pokémon. " _Your specious ideals won't fool me!_ " Lance bellowed. "Pokémon and humans can be _friends_ , is that what you'd have me believe? While Pokémon's homes are being destroyed to make way for 'progress,' so that their Trainers can have more gas stations, shopping centers, parking lots? While Pokémon suffer at the hands of those who exploit them for fame or fortune? They're _experimented_ upon! _Used!_ _Pushed out of the way_ when they're _no longer needed! Abandoned_ once they're deemed _unnecessary!_ And don't try to tell me it isn't so!"

"It _is!_ " Red was agreeing with his enemy's statements, and he actually sounded angry. "Humans mistreat Pokémon. It's true. Like wild Pokémon, that attack humans on _their_ territory. Like giant Bird Pokémon kidnapping little girls. Like swarms of Tentacruel, that make the waters so unsafe that they're life-threatening." He shook his head. "We don't always get along…like brothers and sisters, I guess. But we still have to _live_ together." He bound up all his beliefs, everything that defined his life, in one last statement to try to make his enemy see reason. "Humans and Pokémon _share_ the world!"

"It's easy for you to say!" snarled Lance. "Humans have always been the dominant force in this world! Pokémon are at the mercy of their whims! _Humanity_ is the _true_ scourge of this world! The only thing I'm doing is pulling up the problem by the roots!" He glowered down at Red from on high. "And once I wipe out those who stand against me, I'll transform everyone here. Then everything with breath will be a Pokémon!" He switched back to battle mode. "Dragonair, Twister!" The elegant Pokémon on which he was riding released a whirling tornado that stretched down to sweep Red up.

All around the cave, Surge's forces were winning the day. Giovanni and all his followers were intent on a single battle. They used a veritable army of Ground Pokémon to subjugate the Gyarados subgroup of the Dragon Clan, a collection of Trainers who had at least a dozen Gyarados among them. Team Rocket drove them back inch by painful inch.

Koga had managed to revive Blue, who pushed himself out of the Gym Leader's arms with effort. He was now back on his feet and shouting for his Pokémon to return to him. The ninja Trainer was surprised and pleased—even impressed in spite of himself—when Blue drew his sword and ran into the thick of the fray. Koga hadn't known that the boy could wield an actual weapon with such expertise. He smirked and returned to Surge's side to help lead the final charge. The boys were fine without their help.

"Hold your ground!" Surge roared, back in his lieutenant persona from years ago. "One last push, boys! We're almost there!" Just as he had intended, his words gave strength to his battlers around the room. As though to prove Red's argument beyond all doubt, each and every Trainer was battling side by side with his Pokémon. Koga and his Arbok danced around their opponents with shinobi agility, throwing shuriken and Poison Stings. Whenever Surge's Electabuzz fell back from an attack, the Gym Leader rushed in himself for serious hand-to-hand combat. If Thunder Punch was Electabuzz's prize attack, then regular punches were Surge's. While his Pokémon battled Dragons, he chose the unusual method of attacking the Trainers himself. As he knocked out one of them with a roundhouse kick, Electabuzz sent a Kingdra reeling with a boom of Thunder. One more down.

Blue wasn't downing opponents left and right like the Gym Leaders. Rather, he had taken on their most difficult enemy once again: Clair herself. He and Scyther fought as two halves of the same whole. Whenever Scyther pulled back from dangerous proximity to the Blackthorn Leader's Dragonair, Blue stepped to the fore. He parried Dragon attacks and slashed cunningly. Although a Dragon Pokémon's scales were indubitably strong enough to repel katana attacks, Blue knew which points were weak. He might not be able to penetrate them himself, but he could point them out to Scyther with the blade. Then his faithful Bug Pokémon would swoop in to do the real damage. Blue kept up a mental connection with Golduck the entire time. The Psychic Pokémon informed his Trainer of the status of the four separate battles: for himself, Porygon, Pidgeot, and Machamp. Blue trusted all of his Pokémon to battle fine without him there, but he wanted to keep aware of their progress. And if any of them needed his help, he sent his advice to Golduck, who relayed it to its intended recipient.

The Twister swooped down toward Red. But as usual, Red had a daring and risky plan in mind. And his insane method of putting it into action was to run _towards_ the attack that was reaching to engulf him. The swirling wind hit all around him, and for just one moment, he stood unmolested in the eye. He made good use of the few seconds he had. Removing his red bandana from his leg, he loaded it with ammunition, whirled it above his head, and threw the contents at Lance. Not a breath later, he was swept up into the wind. Lance grinned unpleasantly. "You'll have to do better than a slingshot, boy," he sneered. He knocked away Red's shot with the back of his hand.

"It wasn't a rock!" Red shouted from within the wind. He reached his hand out as though anticipating the Vine Whip that closed around his wrist at that very second. Ivysaur was steadying him from far below. For the contents of Red's scarf was actually a Poke Ball. As Lance deflected it, it burst apart to release Poliwrath. Before Red's oldest friend was swept away into the Dragonair's attack, he reached out his white hand. An Ice Beam flashed out. It hit the Dragon Trainer full in the face and froze his entire head. He slid off his lofty perch and fell like a rock. Dragonair tossed her head from side to side, confused at the sudden absence of her Trainer. The wind was dying down now. Red's brown eyes were dark with regret as he took up his weapon again. Ivysaur held him up by one hand as he used his other hand to catch the stone that Snorlax now threw to him. He loaded it and swirled the handkerchief around at his side. "But this is," he said softly. He released the rock, which flew with such force that, when it struck Dragonair in the head, the beautiful Dragon Pokémon shrieked and faltered in flight. Ivysaur's Vine slipped off his Trainer to focus on the attack he now had to perform. Red fell safely onto Snorlax's waiting stomach. As Ivysaur released its Hyper Beam upon the unfortunate Dragonair, Surge, sensing the enemy's weakness, sent out his own collection of Voltorb and Electrode. They formed a ring around the confused Dragonite and used Thundershock all at once. Lance's prized Pokémon roared but remained aloft. The Electric Pokémon had to pull out a more impressive attack to down him. And they did. At the same time, all of them lit up and performed the sacrificial move that their Trainer held in reserve until the most desperate of moments. Nearly a dozen Self-Destructs went off at once. Surge's spherical Pokémon plummeted to the cave floor, now out of commission. But they had done their job. Dragonite, smoking, fell with them.

"They're on the run, now!" Surge crowed. He raised his fist into the air. " _Rout 'em all!_ " The cavern exploded with activity, as the Trainers feverishly beat back the Dragon Clan. Lance's ice had broken upon his fall, but he was no longer strong for the battle. Shaking, he pushed himself to a sitting position as Red approached him.

"You would have Pokémon _suffer_ ," he hissed out with hatred. "Suffer at the expense of your dreams while you use them as nothing more than a stairway to victory."

"That's not true." It was Blue's voice, as the Trainer himself came over to lend Red his aid. Clair had been defeated at his hand. He pointed his sword at his downed enemy in case Lance was still dangerous. "We've won _together_." His Pokémon gathered around him to prove his words. Every one of them was equally battered, the same as their Trainer. In fact, Blue seemed to have sustained the worst injuries.

"We share _one world._ " Although low in volume, Red's whisper lacked nothing in intensity. "Trainers and Pokémon are partners. _Friends_. They're loyal to us, and we're loyal to them. They protect us, and we do the same for them. Our dream is _one_ dream…and we fight at each other's side."

"Don't make me laugh," Lance rasped. He looked away in denial. "Foolish boy."

The battlers that Lance had feared saw that they would never convince him. He suffered from too much experience, too many memories—too many years of pain to look back on. In his own mind, at least, his way was right.

They may not be able to convince him, but they could defeat him. Cerulean and Vermillion rose to their feet and stood strong. "Drive the Dragon Clan out of the caves!" Red cried.

"Why?" Surge demanded to know from his post.

"Because we're going to blow them up!" answered Blue. Surge's eyes went wide at first, but he quickly seemed to understand the boys' intentions. He grinned.

"Sounds like a plan!" He raised his voice to be heard at every corner of the battlefield. "Hear that, team? Drive 'em out! Chase 'em all the way out of the tunnels!"

In response to the order, the fighting force quickly switched their method of advance. From trying to corral the Clan members in the middle of the cave, they began herding them toward the exit. Defeated Dragon Trainers fled before the attacks of the Rocketeers, the Elite Triad, and the legends of Pallet Town. They chased them back down twisting tunnels, through underground rivers, and through the air above the cavern that the boys had flown through hours earlier. As both Pidgeot and Aerodactyl were out of commission, Red used his Ivysaur to transport him and Blue across the divide. Exhausted Dragon Pokémon were obliged to carry more than their usual capacity, since the number of Clan Trainers exceeded the supply of Flying Dragon-types. Red never saw how the Team Rocket members crossed the gap behind him. But mysteriously, using their mainly Ground type Pokémon, Giovanni and all his thugs somehow made it across.

From there, it wasn't far to the cave entrance. Before long they had reached sunlight again, their eyes aching from the abrupt brilliancy. Red's strength seemed to evaporate now that the life-or-death situation had been resolved. He sat down hard on the ground, gasping for breath in between hacking coughs. Blue stood by him, clutching his own shoulder. The smallest movement made his whole arm pulse with pain. The members of the Dragon Clan dispersed and ran. Their opponents made no move to go after them. They weren't a threat anymore. Koga, Sabrina, Lt. Surge, Giovanni, the Rocket grunts, and the Pallet Town Trainers watched them go. Clair and Lance were nowhere to be seen.

"Well, then." The Viridian City Gym Leader spoke for the first time. "It appears there's only one thing left to do."

Blue glared at him with suspicion. "Is that what you were harvesting crystals for?" he growled. His eyes hadn't missed the way the Rocketeers were gathering crystals from the cave, even while they were on the run.

" _What_?" blurted Red. He stared at the Gym Leaders, hardly able to believe their cutthroat nature. "You mean, after _all that_ , you want to use the crystals—for your _own gain?_ " He clenched his hands into fists. "Is _that_ why you wanted us to help you beat them?!"

Surge let out a loud guffaw and slapped Blue on the back, very nearly knocking him flat. "Take it easy, kid!"

"As difficult as it may be for you to believe," Giovanni told them coolly, "our purpose is to _restore_ the world. An Earth full of nothing but Pokémon is as distasteful to us as it is to you." His cronies put their handfuls of crystals into a pile. Their leader nodded to express his approval. "Now we'll be able to reset all the trouble that lunatic caused."

"How?" both boys blurted at once.

"We've fashioned a bomb," Giovanni stated matter-of-factly.

"And it should reach every corner of the inhabited world, with the help of our Pokémon," Koga told them. The members of Team Rocket revealed a hulking metal cylinder that they had hidden in the trees some distance away. The boys stared at it in amazement. Somehow, Team Rocket must have managed to transform themselves back into humans. Something as complicated as this weapon was, must have taken them weeks to fabricate at the very least.

"It's modeled after Lance's," Giovanni explained to the Elite Triad, "based on the designs you sent me. It should have the opposite effect from the last one."

"Same procedure as last time?" Koga surmised. Giovanni nodded, and Surge grinned at the bomb that would return their existence to normal.

"Excellent," he grunted. "All right, Voltorb! You know what to do." His loyal Pokémon surrounded the weapon and carried it high into the sky. Koga's Golbat took off from his shoulder and flew higher than any of them, waiting for his master's signal.

"Drowzee, Kadabra, Mr. Mime, Alakazam!" Sabrina called to her Pokémon. "Get into position!" The four of them made a square around her. They held their hands up, ready to release their Psychic power.

"Ready?" Surge called to the Pokémon above.

"Fire!" yelled Giovanni. The Voltorb lit up and used Explosion, which threw them a safe distance away from the bomb. It hummed as the chain reaction ran to completion. Then it blew apart with a deafening explosion. Koga and Sabrina raised their hands. Golbat created a Whirlwind with his wings, sending the smoke reeling outward on the wings of the wind. Sabrina's Pokémon's eyes lit up as they released waves of energy that made the very landscape shake. The crystal radiation was being spread everywhere. Blue and Red covered their faces with their arms as smoke, dust, and radiation boiled through the air around them. It was a terrifying event that was nevertheless over very fast. All became abruptly quiet, and the Pokémon returned to their owners.

"Now, destroy the cave!" Giovanni barked at his underlings. "We have to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again." Rocketeer after Rocketeer threw his Poké Ball at the cave entrance. Giovanni released his Golem, as well. A chorus of voices filled the air, calling out various Pokémon attacks.

"Earthquake!"

"Rock Throw!"

"Dig!"

"Fissure!"

Under the combined onslaught of Pokémon such as Sandslash, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Onix, and Dugtrio, no cave stood a chance. The entrance crumbled, and the ground beneath them caved in. The very walls of the cliff fractured and finally fell. Smoke was everywhere. Huge slabs of rock cracked, tumbled, and piled on top of one another. No one would ever enter the cave again. The crystal hiding place was buried forever.

"Good," Giovanni declared. "Now, it's time for us to return to Viridian." Without saying more, he and the rest of Team Rocket left the area. Red and Blue stared after them, members of the largest criminal organization in the world, without whose help their world would never have been rescued.

"Nicely done," Koga spoke into the silence. "You Trainers from Pallet truly lived up to your reputation this day." Sabrina echoed his praise with a silent nod of agreement. Surge reached down to pull Red to his feet. It felt surreal to be on friendly terms with the notorious Elite Triad.

"Need a hand getting back home?" he asked the two of them in a last gesture of goodwill. Blue looked as if he wouldn't be caught dead taking such an offer. He put an arm around his rival's shoulders to steady him. Red smiled.

"Thanks, Lt. Surge. But we already _are_ home," he replied. And together, leaning upon each other, the two most brilliant Trainers to ever leave home returned to Pallet Town.


	12. Claim My Rightful Place

**A/N: This chapter title is from the first season theme song "** ** **Pokémon Theme." ("I will battle every day to claim my rightful place.")  
****

 **Chapter Twelve**

Claim My Rightful Place

The Growlithe pack met them on the edge of town. They galloped toward the Trainers and surrounded them, and congratulated them with barks and licks. Red laughed with happiness to see his old friends again. A boy wrapped in an old blanket appeared to greet them, too. He had aquamarine hair and eyes. "You _did_ it!" he cheered. His eyes shone with admiration. Though Red had never seen the boy before, he thought he knew who it was.

"Turquoise?" he guessed. His friend nodded, and the two of them threw their arms around each other.

"I can't believe you did it, Red! You're amazing!" Turquoise marveled.

"Well, I had help," Red reminded him. He held out his hand. "Turquoise, meet my friend, Blue. He's an incredible Trainer."

Oak's grandson seemed surprised that Red was introducing him so favorably, but he reached out and shook Turquoise's hand. "It's an honor, Blue," Turquoise assured him on the verge of awe. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Turquoise is from Pallet, too," Red went on. "We were Growlithe together."

"Or you could call me Dancing Fire," Turquoise offered rather proudly. He grinned at Red. "They have a name to present to you, too. That's why they're here." Red's face lit up. He had never been called by name while he was with the pack. Names were only given to members who were formally welcomed into its midst.

Already on his hands and knees while greeting Sparking Fire and his mother, Red bowed as Raging Fire came up to him. A hush fell over the pack members. "You spent much time with us, young one, before you could find your feet," the Arcanine rumbled. "Now, the two of you return to us, having saved us all. Raise your head as we welcome you to our number." Holding his breath, Red lifted his face so that he could look into Raging Fire's warm eyes. "Your flame was hotter than that of any of us," he noted, "the hottest one the land had ever seen. It is because your heart burns with ideals—warm with friendship, and aflame with zeal. That is your essence: an inner fire." The Growlithe pack let out their breaths before Red knew why. Then he realized it as Arcanine said again, soberly, "Inner Fire."

Sparking Fire let out a warbling howl and jumped at Red. He had grown a lot, and was stronger since Red had last seen him. Red was knocked over from the impact, grunting with laughter. The Growlithe around him barked in celebration. Now he was truly one of them.

Blue did not go unnoticed by the pack leader. He inclined his head in deference when Arcanine came over to him. "Our thanks, as well, goes to the one whose will never breaks. No matter the duress, you always remain, unmoving and calm as the ancient glaciers, Ice Floe." Blue blinked and bowed low. This venerable Pokémon saw into his heart and named what he saw there. To be christened by him was to be highly esteemed.

The pack raised their voices and barked, yipped, howled to the sky. Turquoise cheered, too, and Raging Fire raised his tail in salute. Flames shot upward from a hundred mouths as they paid these two humans the highest honor.

Vermillion and Cerulean were home.

Ө _The End_ Ө


End file.
